Hydrogen evolution characteristics of electrodeposited Ni-Zn-Fe coatings in alkaline solutions

Hydrogen evolution behaviour of Ni-Zn-Fe coatings, electrodeposited from sulphate baths with boric acid as buffer, was studied in 30% ROH with galvanostatic polarization technique. The influence of several plating variables like deposition, current density (CD), bath temperature and zinc salt content in the bath were investigated. The electrocatalytic activity of these materials depended on electrodeposition and surface composition parameters. The best deposit was obtained from baths containing 2.1 g l(-1) of zinc sulphate. Operations at lower deposition current densities and bath temperatures yielded coatings with a lower H-eta(2). The coatings were found to have good stability to heat treatment and exhibited a network formation at 300 degrees C. (C) 1997 International Association for Hydrogen Energy.