Orientation growth modulation of Mo-Doped Ni3S2 heterostructures utilizing Polysulfide as a sulfur source and in-situ intercalation for enhanced electrocatalytic performance

Development of efficient, low-cost, and bifunctional catalysts based on ultrathin heterostructures for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical for advancing overall water splitting. In this study, we design a simple intercalation-sulfidation strategy by rigid segment-containing Polysulfide as a sulfur source and in-situ intercalation for the construction of the metastable 1 T'-2H'-phase Mo-Ni 3 S 2 heterostructures (1 T'-2H'-Mo-Ni 3 S 2 ). It is found that the Polysulfides with rigid segments can be controlled by various monomers reacted with reverse sulfurization reactions between various monomers and elemental sulfur, such as Poly (sulfur-random-1,3-Benzenedithiol), Poly (sulfur-random-1,4-Benzenedithiol), and Poly (sulfur-random-4,4′-Biphenyldithiol), which can be used to assist in the synthesis process of metastable. Attributing to favorable synergy interaction in composition and structure, the resultant 1 T'-2H' phase Mo-Ni 3 S 2 heterostructures shows the superior performances toward OER and water splitting in alkaline medium. The resultant Mo-Ni 3 S 2 -BDP needs only an overpotential of 103 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm −2 and for OER. For HER, it demonstrates a low overpotential of 136 mV at 10 mA cm −2 , and a relatively low cell voltage of 1.672 V for water splitting. The present provides a new strategy to design and develop the phase engineering of other materials with various Polymorphs.