Fluff spherical Co–Ni3S2/NF for enhanced hydrogen evolution

Ni₃S₂ is a kind of HER catalyst electrode with high efficiency and easy preparation. However, due to the weak electrochemical adsorption capacity of water molecules at the Ni site, it is not conducive to the dissociation of water molecules. At the same time, strong sulfur-hydrogen bond is easily formed at the S site, which greatly hinders the desorption and bonding of hydrogen atom to produce hydrogen. Hydrogen evolution performance of Ni₃S₂ in alkaline media needs to be improved. In this paper, fluff spherical Co–Ni₃S₂ was grown in situ on nickel foam by two-step hydrothermal method successfully. By doping cobalt ions, the strong interaction of S–H bond on Ni₃S₂ surface was weakened, the adsorption and dissociation of water molecules were promoted, and the catalyst was exposed to more reactive centers, so as to improve the hydrogen evolution performance of cathodic reduction reaction. Electrochemical test and Transient Photovoltage (TPV) tests show that Co–Ni₃S₂ has fast reaction kinetics and high electron transfer rate, especially it only needs 148 mV low overpotential to reach 10 mA cm^?2 in 1.0 M KOH alkaline electrolyte, which is better than Ni₃S₂/NF (250 mV). In addition, Co–Ni₃S₂ also has excellent electrochemical stability. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations confirm that the optimized adsorption energy enables the catalyst to exhibit excellent HER activity. This work provides useful guidance to construction of effective nickel related HER catalysts.