Hydrogen evolution reaction on NiCu electrodeposited electrodes in 6.0 M KOH

Abstract

This article presents research of the hydrogen evolution reaction on the NiCu electrodeposited electrodes in 6.0 M KOH solution. Alloy electrodes were deposited on copper substrate in solution containing citrate ions by potentiostatic technique. The influence of the alloying component on the catalytic activity of the electrodes was investigated by cyclicvoltametry (CV) and potentiostatic (PS) techniques. The results show that the hydrogen evolution reaction on the NiCu alloy electrodes in the alkahne solution occurred at voltage of -1 V/SCE with very low current density and significantly increased only when the negative voltage was more negative than -1.3V/SCE. The exchange current density iex decreased as the copper content in the alloy increased, but the rate decrcased unevenly. At -1.6V/SCE, the stabilized cathodic current density on the 58.3 % Cu electrode reached the highest value of about 40mA/cm² and is 2 to 3 times higher than that of Ni-plaled electrode.