One-step electrodeposition synthesis of Ni/NiSx@NF catalyst on nickel foam (NF) for hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract In this study, novel Ni/NiSx@NF-0.8 catalyst is synthesized via a one-step electrodeposition process, with the heterojunction having excellent intrinsic catalytic activity. There is a strong electronic interaction between the Ni and NiSx, which resulted in fast charge transfer ability and hydrogen release ability for hydrogen evolution process. In 1.0 M KOH solution, the Ni/NiSx@NF-0.8 catalyst has ultralow overpotential of 42 mV at 10 mA cm−2. In addition, a Tafel slopes of 34.31 mV dec−1 indicates that the catalytic performance of the catalyst for the HER via the Volmer – Heyrovsky mechanism. The catalyst also exhibits excellent continuous electrocatalytic stability. These key performance parameters are comparable to the commercial platinum carbon catalyst, owing to the synergistic enhancement effect of heterojunction and the strong adhesion of the catalyst to the substrate by electrodeposition.