Investigation of Substrate and Deposition Temperature on Mo–Ni–Cr Thin Films for Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

In this work, ternary Mo–Ni–X (X = Al, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, W) thin films with nominal composition Mo80Ni10X10 (at. %) were prepared by magnetron sputtering and evaluated as electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media. The influence of alloy composition, substrate type, and deposition temperature on catalytic performance was systematically investigated. Electrochemical screening revealed a strong dependence of HER activity on both substrate conductivity and ternary alloying, with Al-, Cr-, and W-containing systems showing the best performance on glassy carbon substrates. This highlights the importance of interfacial charge-transfer efficiency in determining catalytic behavior. The Mo80Ni10Cr10/GC system was selected for detailed analysis. Deposition temperatures ≥ 500 °C resulted in enhanced HER activity, reaching an overpotential of η10 = −222 mV at j = −10 mA cm−2. The improved performance is attributed to temperature-induced microstructural optimization and electrochemically driven surface reconstruction, leading to the formation of a Ni-enriched active interface. AFM analysis confirmed surface restructuring during operation, with roughness increasing from ~1 to ~3 nm, indicating the formation of additional electrochemically accessible active sites. XPS results suggest partial depletion of Mo during cycling, while Cr mainly contributes to structural stabilization of the evolving thin film. Overall, the results demonstrate that HER performance is governed by the coupled effects of alloy composition, substrate-dependent charge transport, and in situ surface reconstruction. This work highlights magnetron sputtering as a scalable approach for designing homogeneous noble-metal-free thin-film electrocatalysts with tunable activity.