This study describes the fabrication of ultrafast laser-induced periodic nanostructures on Nickel sheets and their use as cathodes in alkaline electrolysis. For the first time, to the best of our knowledge, laser-nanostructured Ni sheets were used as cathode electrodes in a custom-made electrolysis cell at actual, Hydrogen producing conditions, and their efficiency has been compared to the untreated Nickel sheets. The electrochemical evaluation showed higher J_peaks, lower overpotential, and enhanced double-layer capacitance for the nanostructured electrode. A decrease in the Tafel slope was also found for the nanostructured electrode. The hydrogen production efficiency was found to be 3.7 times larger for the laser-nanostructured Nickel electrode, which was also confirmed by current-time measurements during electrolysis. Also, a novel approach is proposed to improve the stability of the current density during electrolysis and, therefore, the hydrogen production process by about 10%.

本研究描述了在镍片上制造超快激光诱导的周期性纳米结构及其在碱性电解中作为阴极的用途。据我们所知，这是第一次在实际的制氢条件下将激光纳米结构的镍片用作定制电解槽中的阴极电极，并将其效率与未处理的镍片进行比较。电化学评估显示更高的 J_峰、较低的过电位和增强的纳米结构电极的双层电容。还发现纳米结构电极的 Tafel 斜率降低。发现激光纳米结构镍电极的制氢效率是其 3.7 倍，电解过程中的电流-时间测量也证实了这一点。此外，还提出了一种新方法来提高电解过程中电流密度的稳定性，从而将制氢过程提高约 10%。