Facile construction of SnS2-MWCNTSs decorated nanoparticles for effective water splitting

Abstract

Electrochemical water splitting is a viable strategy to produce renewable fuels such as hydrogen. Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at the anode is getting more attention than hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) because of its higher overpotential and slower electron transfer process. Many advancements in the construction of an effective electrocatalyst have been made recently in an effort to boost OER activity. Additionally, the commercial RuO₂ and Pt-derived catalysts are the most fascinating and active electrocatalysts used in the OER and HER kinetics procedure. They show good activity but the massive price and insufficiency are the main obstacles to their widespread usage in the production of hydrogen and oxygen gas. In this case, SnS₂_multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTSs) are directly produced on nickel foam (NF) using hydrothermal synthesis. All the catalysts like SnS₂, MWCNTSs, and SnS₂_MWCNTSs have been developed, and then they are characterized for structural, morphological, compositional, and electrochemical characterization. The fabricated nanocomposite shows OER onset potential of 1.33 V, 116 mV overpotential at 10 mAcm^−2, and has a Tafel slope of 47 mVdec⁻¹. In contrast, its HER onset potential is −0.3 V having 209 mV overpotential at 10 mAcm⁻² current density and a Tafel slope of 135 mVdec⁻¹. The presence of more electroactive sites, the lowest charge transfer resistance at the electrode-electrolyte interface, the distinct and uniform nanocrystal-like morphology, and the synergistic interaction between SnS₂ and MWCNTS are some of the factors that contribute to the low value of overpotential of SnS₂_MWCNTSs. The resultant electrocatalyst worked well for the very effective oxidation of water and has a variety of possible applications.

Graphical Abstract