Molybdenum Sulfide Nanosheets Coupled with Ni2P Hollow Microspheres as an Efficient Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Generation over a Wide pH Range Mediated by a 3D/2D Interface

Abstract

Developing high activity, strong durability, and cost-efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is critical for the sustainable production of hydrogen energy. Herein, we have rationally designed three-dimensional (3D) heterogeneous catalyst of hollow nickel phosphide spheres coupled with molybdenum sulfide nanosheets (Ni2P@MoS2). Benefiting from the hollow spherical structure and the coupling effects between MoS2 and Ni2P, Ni2P@MoS2 shows superior activity for hydrogen generation over a wide pH range. It displays overpotentials of 181, 269 and 535 mV in 1.0 M KOH, 0.5 M H2SO4 and 1.0 M PBS, respectively, at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. A series of characterization techniques demonstrate that the strong coupling interaction between Ni2P and MoS2 effectively optimizes the electronic structure of the Ni2P-MoS2 3D/2D interfaces, beneficial for regulating H* adsorption energy. This work offers a novel strategy for enhancing the HER performance of metal phosphide/sulfide catalysts by constructing heterostructured materials with abundant 3D/2D interfaces.