Nitrogen incorporated nickel molybdenum sulfide as efficient electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

Developing bifunctional electrocatalysts with improved efficiency and stability in overall water splitting is of extreme importance for renewable energy utilization. In this work, an in situ N doping strategy was demonstrate to boost the efficiency and stability of nickel molybdenum sulfide both in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction. Experimental and theoretical results indicate that such modification offers enriched active sites for electrochemical reaction, and further increases the kinetic driven force of water electrolysis. As a result, the NNiMoS electrode exhibits a remarkably improved performance with rather low potential of 1.54 V to offer a current density of 10 mA cm−2 for overall water splitting, which is 130 mV decrease than that of pristine one. In addition, impressive electrochemical stability also reveals a 76.6% preservation of initial current density after 100 h test, which is superior than that of pristine one after 25 h test. Therefore, the potential to enhance the performance of electrocatalysts by as-proposed route promises a valuable way to develop efficient catalysts with enhanced property for electrochemical applications.