Electrocatalytic activity of palladium nanoparticles-decorated gas diffusion electrode for the hydrogen evolution reaction

Overview & Synopsis

In this work, a high-performance palladium-based electrocatalyst was synthesized and evaluated for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in an acidic medium. The catalyst consists of Pd nanoparticles electrodeposited onto a three-dimensional gas diffusion electrode (Pd@GDE) using a galvanostatic pulse technique. The deposition time was varied to obtain Pd loadings of 200, 150, 100, and 50 µg/cm2. Electrochemical measurements revealed that Pd loading strongly influences the HER activity, with the highest performance achieved at 100 µg/cm2. In 0.5 M H2SO4, the optimized Pd@GDE exhibited an onset potential of − 4.8 mV vs. RHE, an overpotential of 32.3 mV at –10 mA/cm2, and a Tafel slope of 33.3 mV/dec. Ageing tests revealed remarkable stability of the catalyst, with negligible loss of activity after 1500 potential cycles. Furthermore, the catalyst maintained a stable response at –10 mA/cm2 over 5000 s. This platinum-comparable performance, achieved at significantly lower cost, highlights the strong potential of Pd@GDE as an efficient and cost-effective electrocatalyst for hydrogen production.