Electrodeposition of porous Ni-W-Mo alloy coatings and their performance in hydrogen evolution reaction

The high cost of noble metal catalysts seriously restricts the large-scale application of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Although nickel-based alloys have shown potential as alternative materials, their performance still needs to be further improved through synergistic optimization of composition and structure. In this study, porous Ni-W-Mo alloy was prepared by electrodeposition in pyrophosphate electrolyte using dynamic hydrogen bubble template method (DHBT). The optimized NiWMo0.6 alloy exhibits a three-dimensional porous structure, and the ECSA reaches 229.13 cm 2 , which is 10.7 times higher than that of the Fe substrate. Its overpotential (η 10 = 147 mV, η₂₀ = 190 mV) and charge transfer resistance (5.449 Ω·cm 2 ) are significantly better than those of Ni-W alloy. After 18 h of stability test, the performance slightly decay, which confirmed the durability of the structure. The introduction of Mo optimizes the electronic structure of Ni-W alloy and cooperates with porous morphology to increase the density of active sites. This study provides a new strategy for the synergistic regulation of composition and structure for the design of low-cost and efficient HER catalysts.