Nitrogen‐Incorporated Cobalt Sulfide/Graphene Hybrid Catalysts for Overall Water Splitting

Abstract

Abstract Water electrolysis is an advanced and sustainable energy conversion technology used to generate H 2 . However, the low efficiency of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) hampers the overall water‐splitting catalytic performance. Here, a hybrid catalyst was constructed from N‐doped CoS 2 nanoparticles on N,S‐co‐doped graphene nanosheets (N−CoS 2 /G) using a facile method, and the catalyst exhibited excellent bifunctional activity. Introduction of N atoms not only promoted the adsorption of reaction intermediates, but also bridged the CoS 2 nanoparticles and graphene to improve electron transfer. Moreover, using thiourea as both N‐ and S‐source ensured synthesis of much smaller‐sized nanoparticles with more surface active sites. Surprisingly, the N−CoS 2 /G exhibited superior catalytic activity with a low overpotential of 260 mV for the OER and 109 mV for the HER at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 . The assembled N−CoS 2 /G : N−CoS 2 /G electrolyzer substantially expedited overall water splitting with a voltage requirement of 1.58 V to reach 10 mA cm −2 , which is superior to most reported Co‐based bifunctional catalysts and other non‐precious‐metal catalysts. This work provides a new strategy towards advanced bifunctional catalysts for water electrolysis.