Rational Design of Fe-Doped Co 4 S 3 /Ni 3 S 2 Mott–Schottky Heterojunction with Tunable Surface Electron Density for Efficient Water Electrolysis

作者：Zhihui Huang, Lanli Chen, Jin Zhang, Huaming Zhang, Muhammad Humayun, Wenbo Xiao, M. Bououdina, Yasser A. Attia, Xinying Xue, Chundong Wang · 发表于：ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c05782 · 被引用次数：16 · 研究领域：Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion、Advanced battery technologies research、Copper-based nanomaterials and applications

The development of efficient, durable catalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for improving the efficiency of electrochemical water splitting, which is a feasible approach for sustainable hydrogen production. This study employs a simple and efficient approach for growing a Fe-doped Co 4 S 3 /Ni 3 S 2 bimetallic sulfide heterostructure directly on nickel foam. The Mott–Schottky heterojunction presents enhanced surface area, higher conductivity, and optimized electronic features, each of which contributes to exceptional catalytic activity. The Fe–Co 4 S 3 /Ni 3 S 2 heterostructure demonstrates exceptional bifunctional electrocatalytic activity in alkaline freshwater, requiring exceptionally low overpotentials of 169 mV for the HER and 198 mV for the OER for achieving a current density of 100 mA cm –2 . The Fe–Co 4 S 3 /Ni 3 S 2 heterostructure serves as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting, exhibiting a current density of 100 mA cm –2 at a cell voltage of merely 1.758 V, with no performance decline after 288 h of steady operation. Additionally, in a urea-assisted electrolyzer, the electrocatalyst achieves an industrially applicable current density of 300 mA cm –2 at a cell voltage of merely 1.692 V, demonstrating exceptional long-term stability. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations indicate that Fe doping optimizes the electronic structure of the Co 4 S 3 /Ni 3 S 2 heterostructu...