Preparation of Non-Noble Metal Catalyst FeCo₂O₄/MoS₂ for Production of Hydrogen and Oxygen by Electrochemical Decomposition of Water

Abstract

FeCo2O4/MoS2 binary composite catalysts were prepared by the hydrothermal method and calcination method. In this paper, the morphology and structure of the materials were characterized by means of SEM, EDS, XRD, and XPS. It was found that MoS2 has high activity and good stability in HER, and and it has more prospect than noble metal catalysts. In oxygen evolution chemical kinetics, its rich redox potential allowed it to adsorb OH− on (Co2+/Co3+, Fe2+/Fe3+) and enhanced the activity of OER. The cross-nanosheet structure of the FeCo2O4/MoS2 composite catalyst exposed more catalytic sites and accelerated charge transfer to achieve more efficient mass transfer. FeCo2O4/MoS2 as an anode and cathode was assembled into a two-electrode system in overall water splitting, which showed good catalytic activity. When the composite ratio of FeCo2O4 to MoS2 was 1:0.3, the composite catalyst had the best catalytic activity. The results show that when FeCo2O4/MoS2 is used as a cathode and anode to assemble an alkaline cell, respectively, the voltage for total water electrolysis is 1.59 V at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in a 1 M KOH electrolyte, it can keep good stability in a 10 h test with electrolyzed water, and its current retention rate is 98.5%.

Keywords

• FeCo₂O₄
• MoS₂
• oxygen evolution reaction
• hydrogen evolution reaction
• electrochemical decomposition of water