Cold-rolled aluminum foil on nickel mesh as a route to high-performance Raney nickel electrodes for alkaline water electrolysis

A novel route to produce Raney-nickel-coated electrodes for industrial alkaline water electrolysis is presented, in which aluminum foil is cold-rolled onto a nickel mesh, followed by heat treatment and selective leaching. This process requires no specialized equipment and shows high potential for cost-effective and scalable fabrication of supported Raney nickel electrodes. Structural analysis with SEM and synchrotron MicroCT confirms the presence of a microporous Raney nickel layer uniformly coating the substrate. Electrochemical characterization reveals superior electrode activity compared to commercial Raney Ni. In 3-electrode setup, overpotentials of 117 mV and 142 mV were recorded at −0.5 A/cm 2 and −1 A/cm 2 , respectively. Used as cathode in a single cell, a stable cell voltage of 1.65 V at 0.5 A/cm 2 after 45 h was measured. A cell voltage of 1.77 V at 1 A/cm 2 confirms the excellent activity under industrial conditions. • Supported Raney nickel electrodes were produced by a novel cold rolling route. • Excellent catalytic activity towards the HER under industrial conditions. • MicroCT analysis confirms the homogeneous distribution of the Raney nickel layer. • A cell voltage of 1.77 V at 1 A/cm 2 (30 wt% KOH, 70 °C) has been measured. • High potential for upscaling the production of low-cost Raney nickel electrodes.