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Vol. 11 (2019)

Bimetallic Nickel Cobalt Sulfide as Efficient Electrocatalyst for Zn–Air Battery and Water Splitting

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-018-0232-2
Jingyan Zhang
Key Laboratory for Magnetism and Magnetic Materials of MOE, Key Laboratory of Special Function Materials and Structure Design of MOE, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of China
Xiaowan Bai
School of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People’s Republic of China
Tongtong Wang
Key Laboratory for Magnetism and Magnetic Materials of MOE, Key Laboratory of Special Function Materials and Structure Design of MOE, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of China
Wen Xiao
Department of Material Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117575, Singapore
Pinxian Xi
Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province and The Research Center of Biomedical Nanotechnology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of China
Jinlan Wang
School of Physics, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People’s Republic of China
Daqiang Gao
Key Laboratory for Magnetism and Magnetic Materials of MOE, Key Laboratory of Special Function Materials and Structure Design of MOE, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, People’s Republic of China
John Wang
Department of Material Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117575, Singapore

Corresponding Author: John Wang

msewangj@nus.edu.sg

Nano-Micro Letters, Vol. 11 (2019), Article Number: 2

Abstract

The development of efficient earth-abundant electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction, oxygen evolution, and hydrogen evolution reactions (ORR, OER, and HER) is important for future energy conversion and energy storage devices, for which both rechargeable Zn–air batteries and water splitting have raised great expectations. Herein, we report a single-phase bimetallic nickel cobalt sulfide ((Ni,Co)S2) as an efficient electrocatalyst for both OER and ORR. Owing to the synergistic combination of Ni and Co, the (Ni,Co)S2 exhibits superior electrocatalytic performance for ORR, OER, and HER in an alkaline electrolyte, and the first principle calculation results indicate that the reaction of an adsorbed O atom with a H2O molecule to form a *OOH is the potential limiting step in the OER. Importantly, it could be utilized as an advanced air electrode material in Zn–air batteries, which shows an enhanced charge–discharge performance (charging voltage of 1.71 V and discharge voltage of 1.26 V at 2 mA cm−2), large specific capacity (842 mAh g−1Zn at 5 mA cm−2), and excellent cycling stability (480 h). Interestingly, the (Ni,Co)S2-based Zn–air battery can efficiently power an electrochemical water-splitting unit with (Ni,Co)S2 serving as both the electrodes. This reveals that the prepared (Ni,Co)S2 has promising applications in future energy conversion and energy storage devices.


Highlights:


1 Bimetallic nickel cobalt sulfide (Ni,Co)S2 nanosheet arrays were demonstrated as a multifunctional catalyst for OER, HER, and ORR.
2 First principle calculations were performed to probe the rate-limiting step, which involves the formation of *OOH from HO− on the (Ni,Co)S2 surface.
3 A water-splitting system was designed with the (Ni,Co)S2 serving as both cathode and anode, and a Zn–air battery cathode electrocatalyst.

Keywords

(Ni,Co)S2 nanosheet arrays DFT calculations Zn–air batteries Water splitting
Zhang, Jingyan, Xiaowan Bai, Tongtong Wang, Wen Xiao, Pinxian Xi, Jinlan Wang, Daqiang Gao, and John Wang. 2019. “Bimetallic Nickel Cobalt Sulfide As Efficient Electrocatalyst for Zn–Air Battery and Water Splitting”. Nano-Micro Letters 11 (January):2. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-018-0232-2.
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