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Malima NM, Khan MD, Masikane SC, de Souza FM, Choi J, Gupta RK, Revaprasadu N. Eco-friendly mixed metal (Mg-Ni) ferrite nanosheets for efficient electrocatalytic water splitting. Sci Rep 2023; 13:22179. [PMID: 38092868 PMCID: PMC10719248 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-49259-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Eco-friendly and cost-effective catalysts with multiple active sites, large surface area, high stability and catalytic activity are highly desired for efficient water splitting as a sustainable green energy source. Within this line, a facile synthetic approach based on solventless thermolysis was employed for the simple and tunable synthesis of Ni1-xMgxFe2O4 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) nanosheets. The characterization of nanosheets (via p-XRD, EDX, SEM, TEM, HRTEM, and SAED) revealed that the pristine ferrites (NiFe2O4 and MgFe2O4), and their solid solutions maintain the same cubic symmetry throughout the composition regulation. Elucidation of the electrochemical performance of the nanoferrite solid solutions showed that by tuning the local chemical environment of Ni in NiFe2O4 via Mg substitution, the intrinsic catalytic activity was enhanced. Evidently, the optimized Ni0.4Mg0.6Fe2O4 catalyst showed drastically enhanced HER activity with a much lower overpotential of 121 mV compared to the pristine NiFe2O4 catalyst. Moreover, Ni0.2Mg0.8Fe2O4 catalyst exhibited the best OER performance with a low overpotential of 284 mV at 10 mA/cm2 in 1 M KOH. This enhanced electrocatalytic activity could be due to improved electronic conductivity caused by the partial substitution of Ni2+ by Mg2+ in the NiFe2O4 matrix as well as the synergistic effect in the Mg-substituted NiFe2O4. Our results suggest a feasible route for developing earth-abundant metal oxide-based electrocatalysts for future water electrolysis applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nyemaga M Malima
- Department of Chemistry, University of Zululand, Private Bag X1001, KwaDlangezwa, 3880, South Africa
- Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, University of Dodoma, P.O. Box 338, Dodoma, Tanzania
| | - Malik Dilshad Khan
- Department of Chemistry, University of Zululand, Private Bag X1001, KwaDlangezwa, 3880, South Africa.
| | - Siphamandla C Masikane
- Department of Chemistry, University of Zululand, Private Bag X1001, KwaDlangezwa, 3880, South Africa
| | - Felipe M de Souza
- Department of Chemistry, National Institute for Materials Advancement, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS, 66762, USA
| | - Jonghyun Choi
- Department of Chemistry, National Institute for Materials Advancement, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS, 66762, USA
| | - Ram K Gupta
- Department of Chemistry, National Institute for Materials Advancement, Pittsburg State University, Pittsburg, KS, 66762, USA
| | - Neerish Revaprasadu
- Department of Chemistry, University of Zululand, Private Bag X1001, KwaDlangezwa, 3880, South Africa.
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Review on Metal Chalcogenides and Metal Chalcogenide-Based Nanocomposites in Photocatalytic Applications. CHEMISTRY AFRICA 2023. [DOI: 10.1007/s42250-022-00577-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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Ahmed S, Ahmad M, Yousaf MH, Haider S, Imran Z, Batool SS, Ahmad I, Shahzad MI, Azeem M. Solvent-free synthesis of NiCo2S4 having the metallic nature. Front Chem 2022; 10:1027024. [DOI: 10.3389/fchem.2022.1027024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Nickel-cobalt sulfide (NiCo2S4) is a prominent member of bimetallic transition metal sulfides. It is being widely used for a variety of applications such as electrode material, photocatalysis, and energy storage devices (like pseudo capacitors, supercapacitors, solar cells, and fuel cells) due to its better electronic conductivity, manageable morphology, and high capacitance. This work presents the one-step solventless synthesis of NiCo2S4 sheet-like nanostructures and then explores their metallic nature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopic (TEM) analysis show the sheet-like grown morphology. Few nanorods are also seen. Except for a recent study (Xia et al. 2015) that shows metallic behavior, most of the reports show that NiCo2S4 is a semiconductor with claimed bandgap between 1.21 and 2.4 eV. In this study, we observe from UV-Vis and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) that NiCo2S4 has a specific band gap value between 2.02 and 2.17 eV. However, IV characteristics in the temperature range of 300–400 K show that NiCo2S4 is a metal with a positive temperature coefficient of resistance consistent with a recent report. Furthermore, we see the ohmic conduction mechanism. The Arrhenius plot is drawn, and the activation energy is calculated to be 3.45 meV. The metallic nature is attributed to the coupling of two metal species (nickel and cobalt), which accounts for its superior conductivity and performance in a variety of essential applications.
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