An investigation of hydrogen production using 3D-printed cathodes for alkaline water electrolysis

This paper introduces a unique approach for hydrogen production and measurement of coated 3D-printed electrodes for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline water electrolysis. The method investigated in this study involve using non-conductive and conductive polylactic acids (PLAs) followed by various coating techniques to fabricate cathodes for alkaline water electrolysis. During the electrodeposition process, nickel and nickel alloys, including nickel-copper, nickel-iron and nickel-molybdenum, are investigated as coating materials. This paper also provides valuable data on hydrogen production and the respective cathode energy and exergy efficiencies. The study finds that the hydrogen production rate is the highest at the start and declines over time. The hydrogen rate for the first 15 min is reported to be 2.48 × 10-10 kg/s and 1.38 × 10-10 kg/s after 30 min for nickel-copper coated electrode where non-conductive PLA is used along with conductive paints. In comparison, the hydrogen rate for the electrode with nickel-copper coated directly on the conductive PLA is 2.37 × 10-10 kg/s for the first 15 min and 1.35 × 10-10 kg/s after 30 min. Interestingly, the coated conductive PLA electrodes are shown to be more efficient despite slightly lower hydrogen production rates. Moreover, the unique approaches employed in this paper are expected to provide a potential cost-effective approach for improving the performance of the electrodes for electrolysis which can lead to the development of more efficient hydrogen production for industrial applications.