Facile synthesis of nanoflower-like phosphorus-doped Ni3S2/CoFe2O4 arrays on nickel foam as a superior electrocatalyst for efficient oxygen evolution reaction

Developing cost-effectiveness and superior electrocatalysts is crucial to improve the efficiency of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in water splitting system. Hence, flower-like phosphorus doped Ni3S2/CoFe2O4 arrays (P-Ni3S2/CoFe2O4/NF) were generated on three-dimensional (3D) nickel foam (NF) via the two-step hydrothermal treatment and subsequent phosphorization. Additionally, a series of control experiments were conducted to investigate the formation mechanism. By virtue of the unique 3D configurations and multi-compositions, the as-prepared catalyst exhibited greatly improved OER performance in 1.0 M KOH solution, with the overpotential of only 254 mV at 50 mA cm−2 and low Tafel slope of 54.43 mV dec−1. This study provides a feasible approach for preparing advanced electrocatalyst in energy conversion and storage devices.