SUMMARY
This experiment uses nickel electrodes and adds pulse potential and magnetic force when producing hydrogen via water electrolysis and explores how related parameters are affected by magnetohydrodynamics and pulse potential. Experiments showed that the Lorentz force of the magnetic field changes the direction of convective flow of the electrolyte, which affects the flow of bubbles during electrolysis. Adding a magnetic field increases the rate of current density by roughly 15% under a normal temperature, a distance of 2 mm between electrodes and a potential of 4 V. Pulse potential instantaneously increases current and accelerates both the movement of bubbles from the electrode surface and the mass transfer rate in the electrolyte, which lowers electrochemical polarization in the diffussion layer and further increases hydrogen production efficiency. When the duty cycle is 10% and the pulse on‐time is 10 ms, almost 88% of overall power is converted, and current density increases by 680 mA/cm2, which is an increase of roughly 38%. Generally, pulse potential and magnetic field effects enhance each other when added under suitable pulse potential and basic potential. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.