Technische Universität Dresden
The generation of micro/nanoscale features on metal surfaces has been recognized as a relevant aspect of modern technology, since they can enhance different surface properties making them suitable for various applications. In this context, the efficiency of the Hydrogen Evolution Reactions (HER) for alkaline water electrolysis can be significantly increased by producing micro-structured electrodes. One of the most common and electro-catalytic active materials used for electrodes are nickel foils. In particular, it has been shown that the electrode efficiency can benefit tremendously when the surface area is increased. For this purpose, Direct Laser Interference Patterning (DLIP) offers numerous advantages over other techniques, including precise control of the size, shape and distribution of surface textures. The DLIP method is based on overlapping two or more coherent laser beams on the sample surface to produce an interference pattern with a periodic distribution of laser intensity. Moreover, when applying laser sources delivering ultrashort pulses on metallic surfaces, self-organizing nano and microstructures have been fabricated, additionally increasing electrode surface area. In order to transfer this technology to mass production, high processing throughputs must be ensured. This can be achieved by adopting polygon scanners for micro-processing, enabling scanning speeds of several hundreds of m·s-1. In this work, DLIP is used in conjunction with the polygon scanner technique for the first time to fabricate functionalized nickel electrodes surfaces through ultra-fast beam deflection (Figure 1a). By using a high-average power picosecond laser source in combination with two-beam DLIP optical configuration line-like structures with spatial periods (Λ) of 11.0 and 25.0 µm were generated. By applying multiple scanning cycles, structure depths up to 15.0 μm are reached. In addition, the structured nickel electrodes were assessed in terms of their performance for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER). The findings revealed a significant improvement in HER efficiency, with a 22% increase compared to the untreated reference electrode.
Abstract
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