Stable Surface Technology for HER Electrodes

Abstract

With the rapid increase in energy consumption worldwide, the development of renewable and alternative energy sources can sustain long-term development in the energy field. Hydrogen (H2), which is one of the clean chemical fuels, has the highest weight energy density and its combustion byproduct is only water. Among the various methods of producing hydrogen source, water electrolysis is a process that can effectively produce H2. However, it is difficult for commercialization of water electrolysis for H2 production due to the high cost and low abundance of noble metal-based cathodic electrode used for highly efficiency. Several studies have been conducted to reduce noble metal loading and/or completely replace them with other materials to overcome these obstacles. Among them, stainless steel contains many components of transition metals (Ni, Cr, Co) but have sluggish reaction kinetics and small active surface area. In this study, the problem of stainless steel was to be solved by utilizing the electrocatalytic properties of silver nanoparticles on the electrode surface, and electrodes were easily fabricated through the electrodeposition process. In addition, the surface shape, elemental properties, and HER activity of the electrode was analyzed by comparing it with the commercialized silver nanoparticle-coated invasive electrodes from Inanos (Inano-Ag-IE) through the plasma coating process. As a result, silver nanoparticle-coated conventional electrode (Ag-CE) fabricated through electrodeposition confirmed high HER activity and stability. However, the Inano-Ag-IE showed low HER activity as silver nanoparticles were not found. We encourage further research on the production process of such products for sustainable energy applications.