Laser-Induced Fabrication of Nickel Sulfide–N-Doped Carbon Nanosheet Interfaces on Ni Foam for Enhanced Water Splitting in Alkaline and Seawater Conditions

Transition metal chalcogenides have recently emerged as promising electrocatalysts for sustainable hydrogen production via water splitting. Nevertheless, their conventional synthesis often requires multiple chemical steps and high energy inputs, limiting scalability. In this work, we report a direct laser-assisted method for the in situ fabrication of nickel sulfide (Ni3S2) on nickel foam using organic sulfur precursors. Two sulfur sources viz., thiourea and thioacetamide were explored to synthesize Ni3S2-based electrodes, accompanied by the concurrent formation of N-doped carbon nanosheets anchored on the Ni foam surface. Structural and compositional analyses by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electron microscopy indicated the impact of precursor on the physicochemical properties of the Ni3S2-based catalyst. Electrochemical investigations, including linear sweep voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and chronoamperometry, revealed that the thiourea-derived electrode (NSU@NC/NF) delivered superior hydrogen evolution activity, reaching 10 mA cm–2 at a low overpotential of 76 mV with a Tafel slope of 94 mV dec–1. In contrast, the thioacetamide-based electrode (NSA@NC/NF) required 153 mV at the same current density with a slope of 157 mV dec–1. Notably, NSU@NC/NF demonstrated remarkable stability for over 100 h at both 10 and 100 mA cm–2. Furthermore, the catalyst maintained a competitive performance against Pt/C in simulated seawater (pH 7.0) at practical current densities. Density functional theory calculations were performed to evaluate the Gibbs free energy for the HER on Ni3S2 surface, thereby verifying experimental results. The calculated average Gibbs free energy for Ni3S2 was 0.21 eV, providing insights into the catalytic behavior of the catalyst. Therefore, this study highlights the potential of laser-enabled synthesis as a green and scalable route for engineering nickel sulfide-based hybrid electrodes toward efficient hydrogen production in both alkaline and near-neutral environments.