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One-step synthesis of NiS2/rGO composite for efficient electrocatalytic urea oxidation

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Abstract

This work reveals that nickel disulfide and reduced graphene oxide can be integrated by one-step hydrothermal method. Compared to pure nickel disulfide, the prepared composite renders boosted electrocatalytic performance toward urea oxidation with high reaction rate constant and turnover frequency.

Urea electrolysis receives increasing attention, because it can remediate urea-contaminated wastewater and produce hydrogen fuel simultaneously. Developing advanced catalysts for urea oxidation reaction is highly desirable but still challenging. In this work, we reveal that nickel disulfide (NiS2) and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) can be successfully prepared by one-step hydrothermal reaction. NiS2/rGO composite material is characterized to exhibit improved electrical conductivity and larger electrochemical active surface area, which hold the key to promote the reaction kinetics of urea oxidation. The overall reaction rate constant is determined as 2.88 × 105 cm3 mol−1 s−1 for NiS2/rGO, which is \(\approx\) 75 times higher than that of NiS2 counterpart (3.87 × 103 cm3 mol−1 s−1). As a result, the NiS2/rGO electrocatalyst demonstrates superior catalytic performance toward urea oxidation with high catalytic current responses (220 vs. 113 mA cm−2 at 1.5 V), low Tafel slope (51 vs 87 mV dec−1), and turn–over frequency (0.055 vs. 0.024 s−1) in comparison with pure NiS2. Moreover, NiS2/rGO renders stable catatlytic performance in a 30,000 s test, addressing the crucial role of rGO in the composite sample.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support of this work by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST 109-2222-E-224-001-MY3) is gratefully acknowledged. We greatly appreciated Advanced Instrumentation Center, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology for conducting SEM/EDX (MOST-110-2731-M-EM012200) and XPS (MOST-110-2731-M-ESCA001900) characterizations in this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, 123 University Road, Section 3, 64002, Douliou, Yunlin, Taiwan

    Tzu−Ho Wu, Jing–Jie Zhan, Bo−Wei Hou & Zi−Ting Qiu

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  1. Tzu−Ho Wu
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THW conceived and wrote the manuscript; JJZ synthesized the materials and performed the experiments; BWH and ZTQ carried out the material characterizations.

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Correspondence to Tzu−Ho Wu.

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Wu, T., Zhan, J., Hou, B. et al. One-step synthesis of NiS2/rGO composite for efficient electrocatalytic urea oxidation. MRS Energy & Sustainability 9, 324–331 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1557/s43581-022-00032-0

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