Highly Active and Stable NiCuMo Electrocatalyst Supported on 304 Stainless Steel Porous Transport Layer for Hydrogen Evolution in Alkaline Water Electrolyzer

Abstract

Several functionalized porous transport layers with Pt-free electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline conditions, based on Ni, Cu, and Mo, are prepared through electrodeposition onto a 304 stainless steel mesh. Morphological characterization confirms the fabrication of electrodes with high electrochemical surface active area due to the formation of hierarchical nanostructures. Mo presence into the electrocatalysts increases the activity toward the hydrogen evolution reaction. The optimization of electrodeposition process leads to the preparation of highly active NiCuMo electrocatalyst that exhibits near zero onset overpotential and overpotentials of 15 and 113 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm−2, respectively, in 1 m KOH electrolyte. Moreover, this electrocatalyst shows superior stability with respect to other Pt-free electrocatalysts, reaching 100 h of durability with low overpotentials value demonstrating the successful preparation of very promising functionalized porous transport layers for future-generation alkaline electrolyzers.