Facile fabrication of nanostructured NiMo cathode for high-performance proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer

Abstract Clean hydrogen production via water electrolyzer connected with renewable energies is an essential technology for a sustainable energy in future. To realize the system, development of high-performance electrode remains a challenge. In this study, simple cathodic electrodepositions allow for the facile fabrication of a nanostructured non-noble metal cathode. Under optimized deposition condition, the NiMo catalyst supported by Cu foam exhibits overpotential of 68.7 mV at −10 mA/cm 2 for hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic medium. The proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer employing the cathode demonstrates a remarkable current density of ˜2.0 A/cm 2 at 2.0 V, which is the highest performance among state-of-the-art non-noble cathodes reported to date. The results presented herein indicate a promising cost-effective cathode for practical applications.