Pulse-reverse electrodeposition of Ni–Mo–S nanosheets for energy saving electrochemical hydrogen production assisted by urea oxidation

Electrochemical hydrogen production from water splitting is one of the effective methods for hydrogen production that has recently attracted particular attention. One of the limitations of the electrochemical water splitting method is the slow oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which leads to an increase in overpotential and a decrease in hydrogen production efficiency. Here, Ni–Mo–S ultra-thin nanosheets were synthesized using the pulse reverse electrochemical deposition technique, and then this electrode was used as an electrode material for accelerating hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and urea oxidation reaction (UOR). Remarkably, the optimized electrode needs only 74 mV to attain the 10 mA cm−2 current density in HER and require only 1.3 V vs RHE potential in the UOR process. Also, results showed that the replacement of the UOR with the OER process resulted in a significant improvement in the electrochemical production of hydrogen in which for delivering the current density of 10 mA cm−2 in overall urea electrolysis, only 1.384 V is needed. In addition, outstanding catalytic stability was obtained, after 50 h electrolysis, the voltage variation was negligible. Such outstanding catalytic activity and stability was due to 3-D ultrathin nanosheets, the synergistic effect between elements, and the superhydrophilic/superaerophobic nature of fabricated electrode.