Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2025, Vol. 74: 394-410.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(25)64727-9

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Dual-shell hollow nanospheres NiCo2S4@CoS2/MoS2: Enhancing catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction and achieving water splitting via the unique synergistic effects of mechanisms of adsorption-desorption and lattice oxygen oxidation

Yang Chena, Yu Tangb, Leiyun Hana, Jiayan Liua, Yingjie Huac, Xudong Zhaoa, Xiaoyang Liua,c,*()   

  1. aState Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, Jilin, China
    bKey Laboratory of Physics and Technology for Advanced Batteries (Ministry of Education), College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, Jilin, China
    cKey Laboratory of Electrochemical Energy Storage and Energy Conversion of Hainan Province, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, Hainan, China
  • Received:2024-12-09 Accepted:2025-04-11 Online:2025-07-18 Published:2025-07-20
  • Contact: *E-mail: liuxy@jlu.edu.cn (X. Liu).
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China(2217010508);National Natural Science Foundation of China(21731068)

Abstract:

Activating both metal and lattice oxygen sites for efficient oxygen evolution reactions (OER) is a critical challenge. This study pioneers a novel approach, employing cobalt-nickel glycerate solid spheres (CoNi-G SSs) as self-sacrificial templates to synthesize yolk-shell structured CoNi-G SSs@ZIF-67 nanospheres. The derived NiCo2S4@CoS2/MoS2 double-shelled hollow nanospheres integrate the adsorbate evolution mechanism (AEM) and lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM), enabling synergistic dual catalytic pathways. Nickel modulation facilitates active species reconstruction in NiCo2S4, enhancing lattice oxygen activity and optimizing the LOM pathway. Characterization results indicate that anode activation triggered the redox processes of metal and lattice oxygen sites, involving the formation and re-filling of oxygen vacancies. Additionally, the CoS2/MoS2 heterostructure enhances the AEM pathway, as supported by density functional theory calculations, which demonstrate optimized adsorption of intermediates for both hydrogen evolution reaction and OER. The assembled anion exchange membrane water splitting device can deliver a catalytic current of 500 mA cm-2 at 1.74 V under commercial catalytic operating conditions (1 mol L-1 KOH) for 150 h, with negligible degradation. This work provides important insights into the understanding of OER mechanisms and the design of high-performance water-splitting electrocatalysts, while also opening new avenues for developing multifunctional materials with multi-shell structures.

Key words: Adsorbate evolution mechanism, Lattice oxygen mechanism, Water-splitting, ZIF-67, NiCo2S4@CoS2/MoS2, Dual-shell hollow nanospheres