Engineered Superhydrophilic/Superaerophobic Electrocatalysts Composed of Supported CoMoSx Chalcogels for Overall Water Splitting

The development of high-efficiency electrocatalysts for large-scale water splitting is critical but also challenging. In this study, a hierarchical CoMoSx chalcogel was synthesized on a nickel foam (NF) through an in situ metathesis reaction and demonstrated excellent activity and stability in the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline media. The high catalytic activity could be ascribed to the abundant active sites/defects in the amorphous framework and promotion of activity through cobalt doping. Furthermore, the superhydrophilicity and superaerophobicity of micro-/nanostructured CoMoSx/NF promoted mass transfer by facilitating access of electrolytes and ensuring fast release of gas bubbles. By employing CoMoSx/NF as bifunctional electrocatalysts, the overall water splitting device delivered a current density of 500 mA cm(-2) at a low voltage of 1.89 V and maintained its activity without decay for 100 h.