Rational design and controlled synthesis of V doped Ni3S2/NixPy heterostructure nanosheets for hydrogen evolution reaction.

Rational construction of high-efficient and low-cost catalyst is one of the most promising ways to produce liberally hydrogen but almost remains a huge dare. Hence, a novel work by the interface engineering and hetero-atom doping to synthesize V doped sulfide/phosphide heterostructure grown on nickel foam (V-Ni 3 S 2 /Ni x P y /NF) is proposed via a phosphating treatment at low temperature. The incorporation of V can adjust the electronic structures of Ni 3 S 2 , optimize electronic transmission, expose more active sites and protect the 3D structure of Ni foam. Meanwhile, the excellent conductivity of NF and the abundant interstices between nanosheets have a positive effort for HER. As a result, the V-Ni 3 S 2 /Ni x P y /NF (VNSP/NF) nanosheets catalyst exhibits the outstanding HER activity with an extremely low overpotential of 90 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm -2 for HER and stable durability in alkaline solution, which exceeds most of the previously reported about Ni-based materials. This work proves the rational design of the interfacial engineering and metal atom incorporation have a significant influence for efficient hydrogen evolution.