Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in pH-neutral electrolyte is considered more difficult for the additional adsorption and the dissociation process of H2O. Herein, by in-suit construction of the heterostructure between MgO and NiCo2S4 on carbon cloth (CC), a novel MgO/NiCo2S4 heterostructure on CC (MgO/NCS-CC) is successfully fabricated. Benefitting from the optimized electronic structure attributed to the construction of heterointerface, and the intense adsorption of H2O on the surface of catalysts owing to the introduction of hydration-effect-promoting (HEP) element Mg, the MgO/NCS-CC exhibits outstanding OER activity with overpotential of 145 mV at the current density of 10 mA.cm(-2) in pH-neutral electrolyte and can maintain stability over 40 h. Density-functional theory (DFT) also demonstrates that the MgO/NiCo2S4 heterostructure can effectively adjust the electronic structure and enhance the adsorption of reactant, thus further optimizing Gibbs free energies and improving the activity for OER in pH-neutral electrolyte.
Key words
Heterostructure/Oxygen evolution reaction/pH-neutral electrolyte/Hydration-effect-promoting element/Electronic structure adjustment/VALENCE METAL SITES/ELECTROCATALYSTS/PERFORMANCE/OXIDATION/ARRAYS
NSTL
Elsevier