Atomic sulfur filling oxygen vacancies optimizes H absorption and boosts the hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline media

Abstract

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) usually has sluggish kinetics in alkaline solution due to the difficulty in forming binding protons. Herein we report an electrocatalyst in which sulfur atoms are doping in the oxygen vacancies (VO) of inverse spinel NiFe2O4 (S-NiFe2O4) to create active sites with enhanced electron transfer capability. This electrocatalyst has an ultralow overpotential of 61 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm−2 and long-term stability of 60 h at 1.0 Acm−2 in 1.0 M KOH media. In situ Raman spectroscopy revealed that S sites adsorb hydrogen adatom (H*) and in situ form S-H*, which favor the production of hydrogen and boosts HER in alkaline solution. DFT calculations further verified that S introduction lowered the energy barrier of H2O dissociation. Both experimental and theoretical investigations confirmed S atoms are active sites of the S-NiFe2O4.