An interface engineering strategy of MoS2/perovskite oxide as a bifunctional catalyst to boost overall water splitting

Ya-Nan Zhao; Ning Sun; Siqi Xu; Shengkang Min; Huilong Dong; Jun Li; Changhai Liu; Zhidong Chen

doi:10.1039/D4TA00631C

An interface engineering strategy of MoS₂/perovskite oxide as a bifunctional catalyst to boost overall water splitting†

Ya-Nan Zhao,

^a Ning Sun,^d Siqi Xu,^a Shengkang Min,^a Huilong Dong,

*^c Jun Li,^d Changhai Liu

*^a and Zhidong Chen

*^b

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a School of Materials Science and Engineering, CNPC-CZU Innovation Alliance, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
E-mail: liuch@cczu.edu.cn

^b School of Petrochemical Engineering, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
E-mail: zdchen@cczu.edu.cn

^c School of Materials Engineering, Changshu Institute of Technology, Changshu, Jiangsu 215500, China
E-mail: huilong_dong@126.com

^d Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China

Abstract

In this paper, a La_0.6Sr_0.4CoO₃/MoS₂ composite electrocatalyst was prepared by a sol–gel method and subsequent dry ball milling. It showed high activity and favored the reaction kinetics for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) under alkaline conditions. When applied for overall water splitting, it showed a low full-cell voltage of 1.48 V at 10 mA cm⁻² that is comparable to state-of-the-art noble metal catalysts. Using in situ Raman spectroscopy we identified the surface reactive intermediates: cobalt (hydr)oxides with high oxidation states were formed under anodic potentials at the La_0.6Sr_0.4CoO₃/MoS₂ interface to facilitate the OER. DFT calculations showed that the two-phase interface facilitated the polarization of the interface charge and modulated the bonding of the reaction intermediates, accelerating the overall water splitting. This work exemplifies the impact of interfacial engineering on the electrocatalytic performance and provides a new route for the development of low-cost and non-noble metal catalysts for water electrolysis.

This article is part of the themed collection: Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers

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Article information

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TA00631C
Article type: Paper
Submitted: 28 Jan 2024
Accepted: 06 Mar 2024
First published: 06 Mar 2024

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J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024,12, 8757-8768

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An interface engineering strategy of MoS₂/perovskite oxide as a bifunctional catalyst to boost overall water splitting

Y. Zhao, N. Sun, S. Xu, S. Min, H. Dong, J. Li, C. Liu and Z. Chen, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024, 12, 8757 DOI: 10.1039/D4TA00631C

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Journal of Materials Chemistry A