Hierarchically structured Cu-Fe-S nanomaterials as dual-functional catalysts for enhanced hydrogen evolution and photocatalytic dye degradation

초록

Sustainable electrocatalysts have been of significant interest in the area pertaining to the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) processes using ternary copper-iron-sulphide materials. This research outlines the synthesis of copper-iron-sulphide (Cu-Fe-S) hierarchical flower-like structures via hydrothermal process using distilled water, ethylene glycol, and their mixture, and evaluated as dual-functional catalysts for HER and photocatalysis. The products were comprehensively characterized using a variety of physiochemical techniques. In addition, theoretical calculations coupled with automated multiphase XRD analysis was used to rationalize the phase constitution. The experimental diffraction pattern exhibits poor agreement with any single-phase reference and is most consistent with a multiphase Cu-Fe-S system whose features resemble Cu4FeS4 and Cu2Fe2S5. The distilled water derived catalyst (CFS-1) shows overpotentials of 510 mV and 168 mV in alkaline as well as acidic electrolytes, respectively, to obtain the required current density of 50 mA cm-2, indicating its promise as an earth abundant catalyst for hydrogen production catalyst. Meanwhile, the ethylene-glycol-derived catalyst (CFS-2) displays the better photocatalytic performance for methylene blue (MB) decomposition under illumination with visible light.

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