Effectiveness of Ni-Fe alloy as cathode in alkaline water electrolysis process

Abstract

Ni-Fe alloy used as cathode in alkaline water electrolysis to reduce energy consumption. Effectiveness of this alloy in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) influenced by its intrinsic properties. Deposit of Ni-Fe alloy was prepared on stainless steel substrate by direct current (DC) electrodeposition. The phase of deposits characterized by Powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD) with values of 2θ at 44.03 and 51.28 according to CIF reference of Ni3Fe crystalline phase. The effectiveness of Ni-Fe alloy simply measured by volume of hydrogen gas produced from alkaline water electrolysis reaction using Hofmann voltameter. The rate of production hydrogen gas of Ni3Fe alloy in 0.10 M KOH at room temperature was 0.010 cc/minutes at 1.5 V and 3 mA. It has better electrocatalytic activity than nickel deposit to produce hydrogen gas in alkaline water electrolysis. Hofmann voltameter is simple tool can applied to introduce electrocatalytic subject in chemistry learning.