Issue 16, 2022

A facile and simple microwave-assisted synthesis method for mesoporous ultrathin iron sulfide nanosheets as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

Abstract

The engineering of inexpensive, high-efficiency and stable electrodes related to both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is highly desired for full water splitting devices to promote future advances in this energy technology. Therefore, a large surface area, rich in exposed surface atoms, and mesoporosity are very effective parameters in electrochemical reactions. Herein, we have, for the first time, synthesized free-standing mesoporous Fe3S4 nanosheets with a large surface area of 129.65 m2 g−1 through a microwave-assisted synthetic technique. Our present synthesis strategy demonstrates a facile and cost-effective method to overcome the obstacles of fabricating ultrathin two-dimensional graphene-like transition metal sulfide nanosheets. The as-synthesized Fe3S4 nanosheets are applied as both cathodic and anodic electrodes for full water electrolysis. Remarkably, Fe3S4 nanosheets can exhibit a small overpotential (η = 103 mV) to provide the required 10 mA cm−2 current density during the HER process. Meanwhile, a low overpotential of 230 mV is also exhibited for the OER process to allow a 10 mA cm−2 current density. Furthermore, the assembled full water splitting device can achieve potentials of 1.43 and 1.65 V at 10 and 100 mA cm−2 current densities, respectively, in an alkaline electrolyte with excellent cycling stability over 24 h. Our current study may provide an advanced channel for transition metal sulfide catalysts towards commercial water splitting applications.

Graphical abstract: A facile and simple microwave-assisted synthesis method for mesoporous ultrathin iron sulfide nanosheets as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Jan 2022
Accepted
07 Mar 2022
First published
18 Mar 2022

Dalton Trans., 2022,51, 6285-6292

A facile and simple microwave-assisted synthesis method for mesoporous ultrathin iron sulfide nanosheets as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

N. Mushtaq, Z. Wang, H. Tabassum, M. Tahir, Z. Han, Y. Zhu, W. Younas, X. Ma and C. Cao, Dalton Trans., 2022, 51, 6285 DOI: 10.1039/D2DT00019A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements