Graphene-Like Multilayered CuS Nanosheets Assembled into Flower-Like Microspheres and Their Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Properties

Graphene-like two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have many unique properties in diverse fields, but the synthesis method of graphene-like CuS 2D nanomaterials is rarely studied. In this work, we reported that the CuS flower-like superstructure microspheres with a solid core (CuS-FSMs) were prepared by a facile hydrolysis method without a template or surfactant. The novel CuS-FSM material showed a well-define solid core of approximately 300-500 nm and a loose shell of 0.5-1 mu m. More importantly, the loose shell of the CuS-FSMs was constructed of graphene-like CuS nanosheets (CuS-GN). The formation mechanism indicated that the CuS-FSMs were firstly formed on the surface of hexagonal prism-shaped Cu-3(TAA)(3)Cl-3 precursors, and then the well-defined solid core was produced through the Ostwald ripening of CuS-GN. The electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction was employed as a probe reaction to gain insight into the properties of CuS-FSMs, which exhibited a high limiting current density of 92.4 mAcm(-2) and stability in 1 M KOH electrolyte.