Synergistically Enhanced Ni<sub>3</sub>Co<sub>1</sub>(OH)<sub><i>x</i></sub>@Ni<sub>3</sub>S<sub>2</sub> Heterojunction Catalyst for High-Performance Ethanol Electrooxidation
Coupling the ethanol electrooxidation reaction (EOR) with the hydrogen evolution reaction is an effective way to obtain green energy. Although Ni-based catalysts have the characteristics of low cost and good stability, meanwhile, the activity needs to be further improved. Here, we report a Ni-based heterojunction EOR catalyst, Ni<sub>3</sub>Co<sub>1</sub>(OH)<sub><i>x</i></sub>@Ni<sub>3</sub>S<sub>2</sub>, composed by two phases of Ni<sub>3</sub>S<sub>2</sub> and Ni<sub>3</sub>Co<sub>1</sub>(OH)<sub><i>x</i></sub>. The obtained Ni<sub>3</sub>Co<sub>1</sub>(OH)<sub><i>x</i></sub>@Ni<sub>3</sub>S<sub>2</sub> showed excellent EOR performance, which could achieve a high specific activity of 315.7 mA/cm<sup>2</sup> at 1.40 V, which was 15.5 times that of Ni(OH)<sub>2</sub> and superior to most reported Ni-based catalysts. The addition of Co regulates the d-band center and introduces additional positively charged centers for the strong adsorption of OH<sup>-</sup>. The anionic effect of Ni<sub>3</sub>S<sub>2</sub> can accelerate oxidation of the Ni active centers to active Ni(III) sites. The heterojunction structure can enhance the cation and anion effects and the turnover rate of OH<sup>-</sup> species, improving the EOR performance.
Authors
- Jiahao Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5849-4432)
- Shaoxian Liu
- Rongfu Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2296-7637)
- Shanshan Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2472-7998)
- Wei Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0317-7229)
- Guang–Nan Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6924-7843)
- Di Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0927-1416)
- Jin Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6052-0209)
- Yufeng Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6305-2078)
- Xin Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3273-4431)
- Qing Yi Shao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5455-6213)
Institutions
- Huzhou Normal University (CN)
- Nanjing Xiaozhuang University (CN)
- Zero Emissions Resource Organisation (NO)
- Health & Life (Taiwan) (TW)
- Beijing Advanced Sciences and Innovation Center (CN)
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
- Published
- 2025-09-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.5c13244
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.36
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Department of Education of Zhejiang Province