ELECTRODE COMPARISON
INFORMATIONALOur NiCo Electrode and Bare Ni Foam
Bare Ni foam is the substrate. Our electrode adds the bi-metallic NiCo catalyst layer via electroless deposition. This page clarifies what the coating contributes.
Our electrode polarization
TESTBEDOur electrode in numbers
HER overpotential
@ 100 mA/cm² (no IR)
OER overpotential
@ 100 mA/cm² (no IR)
Cell @ 0.5 A/cm², 60 °C
91.4% efficiency
1000-hour drift
@ 0.5 A/cm² / 40 °C
All measured in a 5 cm² AEM cell, 30 wt% KOH, zero-gap, commercial Zirfon separator (500 µm).
Side-by-side: our electrode and Bare Ni Foam (Uncoated)
Factual differentiation only. No fabricated numeric claims about alternatives; consult their vendor data for performance comparison.
| Parameter | Our electrode | Bare Ni Foam (Uncoated) | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active layer | Bi-metallic NiCo (electroless-deposited) | None (bare Ni surface only) | Coating is the differentiator |
| Substrate | Ni foam (100-1000 cm2) | Same Ni foam | Substrate is identical |
| Bifunctional behavior | Yes, in our AEM test cell | Bare Ni can do HER and OER but with higher overpotentials | Coating is what enables the published numbers |
| HER overpotential at 100 mA/cm2 (this product) | 80 mV (no IR correction) | Varies | Bare Ni typically requires more voltage |
| OER overpotential at 100 mA/cm2 (this product) | 260 mV (no IR correction) | Varies | Bare Ni typically requires more voltage |
Bare Ni foam is the substrate
Bare Ni foam is the open-porosity nickel substrate that we use as the support for our deposited catalyst. Nickel itself is electrochemically active for both HER and OER in alkaline electrolytes, though typically at higher overpotentials than coated catalysts.
In our product, the same Ni foam serves as the substrate, and the electroless-deposited bi-metallic NiCo catalyst is what gives the electrode its published 80 mV HER and 260 mV OER overpotential at 100 mA/cm2 (no IR correction).
What the coating adds
The bi-metallic NiCo coating is what transforms a bare Ni-foam substrate into the published bifunctional electrode. The coating is what allows the same electrode to serve as both HER cathode and OER anode at the published overpotentials.
At cell level, in a 5 cm2 AEM cell with the coated NiCo electrode on both sides and a commercial Zirfon separator (500 um), the cell reaches 0.5 A/cm2 at 1.62 V at 60 deg C (91.4% efficiency). The coating is the active component delivering this performance.
Cost vs activity trade-off
Using bare Ni foam without any coating saves the deposition step but typically requires more cell voltage to reach the same current density. We do not publish specific bare-Ni overpotential numbers from our cell; for a quantitative comparison the cell would have to be run with the same setup and an uncoated substrate.
When bare Ni foam might be considered
For applications where current density is intentionally low (single-digit mA/cm2 lab cells, for instance), bare Ni foam may be sufficient. For industrial current densities (0.5 A/cm2 and above), a coated catalyst layer is the typical choice, which is what our product provides.
Where this comparison matters
Applications where stack OEMs typically evaluate both options.
Key electrode specifications
Source-supported parameters of our electrode for this comparison.
Frequently asked questions
What does the NiCo coating add over bare Ni foam?
Bare Ni foam is the substrate of our electrode. The electroless-deposited bi-metallic NiCo coating is what gives the electrode its published HER (80 mV) and OER (260 mV) overpotentials at 100 mA/cm² in 30 wt% KOH (no IR correction). Bare Ni foam alone typically requires more cell voltage to reach the same current density.
Does this page claim our electrode performs better than Bare Ni Foam (Uncoated)?
No. This page is informational. It states what our bifunctional NiCo electrode is and what the alternative is, using source-supported facts only. We do not publish numeric performance claims against specific alternative products. For alternative-product performance data, consult the vendor of that product directly.
What numbers are published for our electrode?
HER overpotential 80 mV and OER overpotential 260 mV at 100 mA/cm² in 30 wt% KOH, measured without IR correction. Cell-level performance with the bifunctional NiCo electrode on both sides and a commercial Zirfon separator (500 µm) in a 5 cm² AEM zero-gap cell: 0.5 A/cm² at 1.81 V at RT (82% efficiency) and 1.62 V at 60 °C (91.4%). 1000-hour stability at 21 µV/hr drift.
Can I run side-by-side bench tests in my own cell?
Yes. We supply 5 cm² coupons that match the size used in our published AEM test cell. Stack OEMs evaluating both options typically run side-by-side qualification on their own cell as the decision step. Bench-scale and pilot-scale electrodes (up to 1000 cm²) are both available.
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