Self-Supported Hybrid Chiral MoS₂@NiCo₂O₄ Heterostructure on a Carbon Cloth for Efficient Oxygen Evolution

As an attractive and eco-friendly technique for clean hydrogen production, the electrocatalytic water splitting is often limited by the sluggish and spin-dependent oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The alignment of the electron spin through chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect is a promising route to enhance OER activity and suppress the generation of hydrogen peroxide by-products. In this work, chiral MoS2@NiCo2O4/carbon cloth (CC) heterostructured electrodes with a chiral MoS2 layer coated on the surfaces of NiCo2O4 nanoneedles were constructed via a facile hydrothermal method. Benefiting from the intercalation of chiral methylbenzylamine (MBA) molecules, the chiral MoS2 layer in the structures of chiral MoS2@NiCo2O4/CC not only shows a 1T phase-dominated metallic nature but also induces the electron spin filtration through the CISS effect. The resultant chiral MoS2@NiCo2O4/CC catalysts exhibit high-performance electrocatalytic performance toward the alkaline OER with lower overpotentials and higher reaction kinetics than those of racemic MoS2@NiCo2O4/CC and achiral MoS2@NiCo2O4/CC. The coating of the chiral MoS2 layer facilitates the formation of ground-state O2 molecules and inhibits the production of H2O2 by-product. Our findings present the feasibility of employing chiral CISS layer coating to enhance the electrochemical water splitting via spin-polarized charge transfer, providing a straightforward strategy for spin-dependent electrochemical applications.