In Situ Polarization Imaging of Multi‐Bubble Dynamics on Nickel‐Based Electrodes During Hydrogen Evolution

ABSTRACT Water electrolysis is a promising route for renewable energy conversion and green hydrogen production, yet hydrogen bubbles generated during the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) can mask active sites, hinder electrolyte transport, and disturb the interfacial reaction environment, leading to distorted apparent catalytic performance. Here, we develop a prism‐coupled, dual‐camera synchronous polarization imaging system for in situ visualization and quantitative analysis of multi‐bubble interfaces on Ni‐based electrodes. By extracting degree of polarization (DOP) maps, we correlate the polarization response with bubble coverage and define an apparent coverage parameter, θ DOP , to describe the overall interfacial state. The quantitative correspondence between θ DOP and reference bubble coverage was directly validated up to approximately 50% coverage. Bubble evolution was strongly affected by scan rate, while increasing overpotential led to more intense and complex multi‐bubble dynamics. Comparative measurements on bare Ni and NiMo‐loaded Ni electrodes, including matched‐current‐density tests from 1 to 50 mA/cm 2 , revealed distinct bubble morphologies and interfacial coverage evolution. This work demonstrates that dual‐camera polarization imaging combined with θ DOP provides an effective in situ approach for characterizing bubble generation, accumulation, and detachment at complex multi‐bubble interfaces in Ni‐based HER systems.

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Publication Details

Journal
Small Methods
Published
2026-09-16
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smtd.71047
Primary Topic
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
Type
article
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article

In Situ Polarization Imaging of Multi‐Bubble Dynamics on Nickel‐Based Electrodes During Hydrogen Evolution

Lianyu Li, Le Liu, Dongzhi Li, Huaiyi Xu et al.
Small Methods
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
article

In Situ Polarization Imaging of Multi‐Bubble Dynamics on Nickel‐Based Electrodes During Hydrogen Evolution

Lianyu Li, Le Liu, Dongzhi Li, Huaiyi Xu, Jiawang He, Lin Lin, Jingyu Xi, Hao Lin, Xiaohui Zhang, Zixin Wu
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Water electrolysis is a promising route for renewable energy conversion and green hydrogen production, yet hydrogen bubbles generated during the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) can mask active sites, hinder electrolyte transport, and disturb the interfacial reaction environment, leading to distorted apparent catalytic performance. Here, we develop a prism‐coupled, dual‐camera synchronous polarization imaging system for in situ visualization and quantitative analysis of multi‐bubble interfaces on Ni‐based electrodes. By extracting degree of polarization (DOP) maps, we correlate the polarization response with bubble coverage and define an apparent coverage parameter, θ DOP , to describe the overall interfacial state. The quantitative correspondence between θ DOP and reference bubble coverage was directly validated up to approximately 50% coverage. Bubble evolution was strongly affected by scan rate, while increasing overpotential led to more intense and complex multi‐bubble dynamics. Comparative measurements on bare Ni and NiMo‐loaded Ni electrodes, including matched‐current‐density tests from 1 to 50 mA/cm 2 , revealed distinct bubble morphologies and interfacial coverage evolution. This work demonstrates that dual‐camera polarization imaging combined with θ DOP provides an effective in situ approach for characterizing bubble generation, accumulation, and detachment at complex multi‐bubble interfaces in Ni‐based HER systems.

Small Methods
Guangdong University of Technology (CN), University Town of Shenzhen (CN), Tsinghua–Berkeley Shenzhen Institute (CN)
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 29%
Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion
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