Sulfur‐Induced Low Crystallization of Ultrathin Pd Nanosheet Arrays for Sulfur Ion Degradation‐Assisted Energy‐Efficient H<sub>2</sub> Production
Wenxin Wang, Qiqi Mao, Kai Deng, Hongjie Yu, Ziqiang Wang, You Xu, Xiao‐Nian Li, Liang Wang, Hongjing Wang
Abstract
Abstract The utilization of thermodynamically favorable sulfur oxidation reaction (SOR) as an alternative to sluggish oxygen evolution reaction is a promising technology for low‐energy H 2 production while degrading the sulfur source from wastewater. Herein, amorphous/crystalline S‐doped Pd nanosheet arrays on nickel foam (a/c S‐Pd NSA/NF) is prepared by S‐doping crystalline Pd NSA/NF. Owing to the ultrathin amorphous nanosheet structure and the incorporation of S atoms, the a/c S‐Pd NSA/NF provides a large number of active sitesand the optimized electronic structure, while exhibiting outstanding electrocatalytic activity in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and SOR. Therefore, the coupling system consisting of SOR‐assisted HER can reach a current density of 100 mA cm −2 at 0.642 V lower than conventional electrolytic water by 1.257 V, greatly reducing energy consumption. In addition, a/c S‐Pd NSA/NF can generate H 2 over a long period of time while degrading S 2− in water to the value‐added sulfur powder, thus further reducing the cost of H 2 production. This work proposes an attractive strategy for the construction of an advanced electrocatalyst for H 2 production and utilization of toxic sulfide wastewater by combining S‐doping induced partial amorphization and ultrathin metal nanosheet arrays.