Effect of phosphorous content and -reinforcement on Ni–P electroless plates for hydrogen evolution reaction

Electroless Ni–P plates are recently being explored for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The variation of phosphorous content in the Ni–P plates affects the physico-chemical and electrocatalytic properties of the plates. These properties of the Ni–P plates also depend on the presence of second-phase composites in the plates. In the present work, the role of phosphorous content on the physico-chemical and electrocatalytic properties of electroless Ni–P plates was studied systematically. The plates with optimum phosphorous content were found to consist of a mixture of amorphous and crystalline phase. The reinforcement of the plates with TiO 2 further enhanced the roughness factor, number of electro-active sites and hydrogen adsorption ability. The TiO 2 reinforced plates exhibited high electrocatalytic activity during HER.