Surface Microstructure on Raney Nickel Catalysts.

Abstract

Raney nickel is a favorite electrocatalyst for alkaline water electrolysis and fuel cells. The good electrochemical properties of this material result from its very fine porosity giving the electrodes a large effective surface. Usually the microstructure is formed by chemical etching of a nickel alloy, leaving back a highly porous electrode consisting of nearly pure nickel. It is well known that the total effective surface can considerably vary depending on the etching process, but up to now the structure is quite ambiguous. Consequently, the study of the microporosity on Raney nickel is an important task within the scope of the development of electrocatalytic electrodes.