One-step electrodeposition of Ni–Co–S nanosheets film as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for efficient water splitting

In this communication, we report that Ni–Co–S film electrochemically deposited on Cu foam (Ni–Co–S/CF) behaves as a bifunctional catalyst for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with good durability in strongly basic electrolyte. This 3D electrode behaves high activity of 10 mA cm−2 at overpotential of 140 mV for HER and 100 mA cm−2 at overpotential of 363 mV for OER in 1.0 M KOH. Furthermore, using Ni–Co–S/CF as both anode and cathode can afford 10 mA cm−2 at cell voltage of 1.67 V toward overall water splitting in alkaline solution.