Interface engineering of CoS/SnS2 nanosheets for boosting electrocatalytic overall water splitting in alkaline medium

The rational design of active and cost-effective bifunctional catalysts for water electrolysis plays an important role in hydrogen production. Here, an interface engineering strategy is employed for preparing CoS/SnS2 heterojunctions on carbon cloth with rich sulfur vacancies. Such an electrocatalyst exhibits excellent performance for HER (eta(10): 151 mV) and OER (eta(10): 327 mV) under alkaline conditions. And only 1.71 V is required for a cell based on Cos/SnS2 as the bifunctional catalysts to achieve 10 mA cm(-2) current density for full water splitting. DFT calculations indicate that the excellent electrochemical performance is attributed to the tunable electronic structure induced by sulfur vacancies and the heterojunctions.

Automated summary

The rational design and synthesis of cost-effective bifunctional catalysts is important for efficient hydrogen production through water electrolysis. In this study, an interface engineering approach was employed to prepare CoS/SnS2 heterojunctions on carbon cloth with abundant sulfur vacancies. The resulting electrocatalyst exhibits excellent performance for both the HER and OER in alkaline conditions. DFT calculations reveal that the tunable electronic structure induced by sulfur vacancies and the heterojunctions contributes to the superior electrochemical performance.