Palladium-Engineered Stainless Steel Mesh for Efficient Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution

Developing durable and cost-effective electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media is critical for practical water electrolysis. Herein, we report a simple electrodeposition strategy to engineer commercial stainless steel mesh (SSM) with palladium (Pd) nanostructures, producing a high-performance Pd/SSM electrode for alkaline HER. Structural and morphological analyses confirm the successful formation of crystalline Pd nanodomains uniformly distributed over the three-dimensional conductive mesh while preserving the integrity of the stainless steel substrate. The Pd modification markedly improves HER activity in 1.0 M KOH, lowering the overpotential at 10 mA cm⁻² from 350 mV for bare SSM to 119 mV for Pd/SSM. In addition, Pd/SSM exhibits a reduced Tafel slope, a much lower polarization resistance, and a higher double-layer capacitance, revealing accelerated charge–transfer kinetics and an increased density of accessible active sites. Chronopotentiometric measurements further demonstrate excellent operational durability over 24 h at 10, 50, and 100 mA cm⁻², with minimal potential drift under continuous cathodic operation. Post-stability XRD and ICP-OES analyses confirmed the structural and compositional stability of the Pd/SSM electrode. This work demonstrates an effective route for transforming a low-cost commercial metal mesh into a robust and efficient HER electrode while minimizing noble-metal usage for scalable alkaline hydrogen production.