Recent progress in Co9S8-based materials for hydrogen and oxygen electrocatalysis

Abstract

Co₉S₈-based materials have attracted tremendous attention in the last few decades owing to their unique physical properties, such as a Co-rich component and the existence of Pt-like crystal plane, which are widely adopted as electrocatalysts in energy-related electrocatalysis. In this review, we present the recent advances in Co₉S₈-based materials for hydrogen and oxygen electrocatalysis (i.e., hydrogen evolution, oxygen reduction and oxygen evolution reactions) and their practical applications in renewable energy devices, including water-splitting and metal–air batteries. Various synthetic methodologies for Co₉S₈-based materials, and the correlation between their electrocatalytic activities and their structure and compositions are introduced in detail. Finally, we briefly note the existing challenges and future perspectives for improving the performance of Co₉S₈-based electrocatalysts.