Fabrication of efficient electrocatalytic system with ruthenium cobalt sulfide over a carbon cloth

Abstract

Probing effective, highly active, and inexpensive electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is of immense importance for water electrolysis. Transition metal chalcogenides have been developed as a new class of materials for energy storage and conversion owing to their distinctive properties, such as capacitance, conductivity, and redox behavior. Three-dimensional carbon cloth (CC), is a unique carbon network with extraordinary flexibility, mechanical stability, and high conductivity for application in energy-conversion systems. In this study, we designed ruthenium cobalt sulfide over a carbon cloth (RuCoS2/CC) via electrodeposition followed by an immersion technique and applied it for the OER. The molar ratio for Ru (amount of Ru - 10, 20, 30 mg & immersion time - 3, 6, and 9 h), Co (0.05 to 0.3 M), and S (0.05 to 0.2 M) precursors were optimized. Owing to the existence of binary active sites, heteroatoms, and synergetic effect between the transition metal chalcogenides and the carbon substrate, Ru (20 mg immersed for 6 h) at CoS2 (Co - 0.2 M & S2 - 0.05 M) modified CC (shortly denoted as RuCoS2/ CC) exhibits a lower overpotential (315 mV), better Tafel slope (74 mV dec-1), and excellent durability (retention rate - 94.64%) compared with CoS2/CC and previous studies. Therefore, RuCoS2/CC is perceived to show better OER performance in the electrocatalysis of water. (c) 2022 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.