Facile synthesis of ultrathin Ni(OH)2-Cu2S hexagonal nanosheets hybrid for oxygen evolution reaction

The development of non-noble metal water oxidation catalyst has been a challenge in oxygen evolution reaction. A two-dimensional (2D) ultrathin Ni(OH)2-Cu2S hexagonal nanosheet hybrid is in situ synthesized by hydrothermal reaction as electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction. The 2D ultrathin hexagonal Ni(OH)2-Cu2S nanosheets are homogeneous in size with edge lengths of 20-30 nm. This catalyst exhibits a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an over-potential of 0.5 V and Tafel slope of 89 mV dec−1 for water oxidation in 0.1 M KOH. Moreover, the nanosheets are stable and no deactivation is observed during the following cyclic voltammetry cycles, even up to 3500 cycles.