ELECTRODEPOSITION AS A MEANS OF PRODUCING LARGE-SURFACE ELECTRODES REQUIRED IN WATER ELECTROLYSIS

Electrodeposition in aqueous solution is commonly used to produce the catalytic electrodes required in water electrolysis. By conducting deposition under appropriate conditions, an electrode may be obtained which has a considerably increased surface area compared with its apparent surface, and the electrocatalytic performance of the electrode can be greatly improved. In this work, we reviewed the major techniques at present employed in electrodeposition for fabricating large-surface electrodes used in water electrolysis, which include high current density deposition, composite electrodeposition, reactive deposition and electrodeposition-activation processes. We studied the functions of the techniques, their limitations and related problems. We also noticed inadvertent changes in electrode surface area resulting from electrodeposition under different conditions, and that only electrochemically accessible surface areas of the electrodes are useful in water electrolysis.