The insufficient catalytic efficiency of non-noble metal materials in the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) remains a critical challenge limiting their practical application. Herein, a W-modified NiSe 2 -based catalyst (Ni-W-Se/NF) was in situ fabricated on nickel foam through a simple potentiostatic electrodeposition strategy. The incorporation of W effectively modulates the microstructure of NiSe 2 -based catalysts, resulting in a significantly enlarged electrochemical active surface area for Ni-W-Se/NF. Benefiting from the synergistic effects of W-induced electronic modulation and morphology optimization, the Ni–W–Se/NF electrode exhibits enhanced HER performance in 1 M KOH, delivering a low overpotential of 64 mV at − 10 mA cm −2 . Moreover, the catalyst demonstrates good electrochemical durability, maintaining stable activity during continuous operation for 50 h. Overall, these findings highlight the potential of this catalyst as an economically viable cathode for alkaline water electrolysis.
Hu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.