Exploring the potential of Cu3XS4 (X = Fe, Sn) functionalized reduced graphene oxide for Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution and photocatalytic degradation of pollutants

Abstract

Exploring the naturally available electrocatalysts and photocatalysts for the development of sustainable clean energy and water has been an important topic of research recently. Ternary copper sulphides have been identified as having the potential to perform well in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reactions and photocatalytic pollutant degradation. In the present work, Cu3XS4 (X = Fe, Sn) nanoparticles have been synthesised through the hydrothermal method. It is then decorated with N- and B-doped reduced graphene oxide. The structural, morphological, compositional, and optical studies of the composites were carried out by XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, PL, and UV-DRS analyses. The photocatalytic studies were conducted in the presence of visible light by using methylene blue as a typical contaminant and it was observed that the nanoparticles doped with nitrogen is showing the highest degradation efficiency with 71 % and 70 % for T-N/rGO and F-N/rGO respectively. The cyclic voltammetry, impedance, and capacitance studies were performed for the samples to discover the electrocatalytic action of the nanoparticles. Lowest over potential of 269 mV was observed for copper tin sulphide when doped with nitrogen. The electrochemical surface area and impedance studies were also in agreement with other results. Nitrogen doping increased the active sites which resulted in better activity for the nanoparticles upon the addition of N/rGO. © 2025 Elsevier B.V.