Coupling of precisely engineered Co3O4@FeCo2S4 with a Mo2TiC2Tx MXene architecture to produce a durable bifunctional electrocatalyst for efficient water electrolysis
Date Issued
2025
Author(s)
Kavinkumar, Thangavelu
Kumar, T. R.Naveen
Sengottaiyan, C.
Sivagurunathan, Amarnath T.
Arun, Thirumurugan
Kim, Do Heyoung
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.01.058
Abstract
The development of robust, affordable, and efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for practical hydrogen (H<inf>2</inf>) production remains challenging. In the present study, we propose a facile synthesis strategy using a hydrothermal method followed by sulfurization for the fabrication of Co<inf>3</inf>O<inf>4</inf>@FeCo<inf>2</inf>S<inf>4</inf> embedded with the Mo<inf>2</inf>TiC<inf>2</inf>T<inf>X</inf> MXene on Ni foam as a catalyst for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The introduction of the Mo<inf>2</inf>TiC<inf>2</inf>T<inf>X</inf> MXene preserves the Co<inf>3</inf>O<inf>4</inf>@FeCo<inf>2</inf>S<inf>4</inf> structure and produces rich catalytic active intermediates to boost the OER and HER. Various characterization tools verify the presence of multiple nanointerfaces between the Co<inf>3</inf>O<inf>4</inf>@FeCo<inf>2</inf>S<inf>4</inf> and Mo<inf>2</inf>TiC<inf>2</inf>T<inf>X</inf>, greatly increase the density of active sites and facilitate electron migration, thus reducing the kinetic barriers. As a result, the optimized Co<inf>3</inf>O<inf>4</inf>@FeCo<inf>2</inf>S<inf>4</inf>/Mo<inf>2</inf>TiC<inf>2</inf>T<inf>X</inf> catalyst displays satisfactory overpotentials of 83.1, 173.3 and 235.1 mV at 10, 50, and 100 mA cm−2, respectively, for the HER and of 221.6, 256.6 and 283.3 mV at 10, 50, and 100 mA cm−2, respectively, for the OER, while also exhibiting excellent durability in a 1 M KOH solution. The Co<inf>3</inf>O<inf>4</inf>@FeCo<inf>2</inf>S<inf>4</inf>/Mo<inf>2</inf>TiC<inf>2</inf>T<inf>X</inf> catalyst is subsequently used in a water electrolyzer and produces 10, 50, and 100 mA cm−2 at low cell voltages of 1.53, 1.68, and 1.81 V, respectively, which is comparable to the activity of a benchmark Pt/C//RuO<inf>2</inf> electrolyzer. These findings verify the potential for constructing precisely engineered electrocatalysts to facilitate H<inf>2</inf> generation without the use of noble metals. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
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