The electrolytic production of hydrogen (POH) from alkaline water electrolysis is at the forefront of technology for alternative energy sources of the future. The present work evaluates the improvement of electro-catalytic activity (ECA) on Ni electrodes for the POH by electrodeposition of cobalt (Co). Tests were conducted in alkaline solution and the ECA of Ni and Ni–Co electrodes for the POH were compared using alternative and direct current techniques. Tafel polarization tests exemplified a significant improvement in the ECA of the bimetallic electrode (Ni–Co) compared with the Ni-electrode. Besides, the bimetallic electrode required less input overpotential energy (η) for the given POH rate under constant current density. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) revealed a significant increase in the number of electrochemical active sites and changed the surface morphology following the electrodeposition of Co over Ni electrodes.

碱性水电解电解生产氢（POH）处于未来替代能源技术的最前沿。本工作评估了通过电沉积钴（Co）对Ni电极对POH的电催化活性（ECA）的改善。测试是在碱性溶液中进行的，使用替代技术和直流技术比较了POH的Ni和Ni-Co电极的ECA。Tafel极化测试表明，与镍电极相比，双金属电极（Ni-Co）的ECA有了显着改善。此外，在恒定电流密度下，对于给定的POH速率，双金属电极需要较少的输入过电势能（η）。