Activation of Macroporous Ni electrodes with Ag and AgS N anoparticles for Hydrogen Production

C. GONZÁLEZ-BUCH, E.M. ORTEGA, G. GONZÁLEZ, I. PEDRE, M. G. SÁNCHEZ-LOREDO, V. PÉREZ-HERRANZ1

Niagara Falls

Congreso; 15rh Topical Meeting ofthe lnternational Society of Electrochemistry In terfacial Electrochemistry at Atomic, Molecular and Nanoscale Domains; 2014

International Society of Electrochemistry

The main goal of modem electrocatalysis for the hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) is to enhance the activity of the electrodes whit less usage of noble metals.Supporting materials with high surface area are essential to reduce the dosage ofmetal loading. Considering the above facts, in this work, macroporous electrodeshave been synthesized by galvanostatic electrodeposition at high current density[1] and then, they were modified with silver nanoparticles (AgNps). The AgNpswere synthesized using polivinylpyrrolidone as the stabilizing agent. Theanoparticle dispersion was suspended in a polymer solution containingpolyallylamine and sodium dodecylsulfate (see Fig.1a) [2], and this mixture wasdeposited on the developed macroporous electrodes. The HER activity of theseelectrodes was studied in 30% wt. KOH by means pseudo-steady-state polarizationcurves and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). As it can be seen inFig. 1 b, Nps modified electrodes show higher catalytic activity than the NiHcdelectrode and than a commercial smooth Ni electrode.