Nickel catalysts electrodeposition

A literally nanoarchitectured electrode was reported by Owen et al. [64,65], who electrodeposited nickel/nickel oxide, which is regarded an electrochemi-cally extremely important material whenever applications like fuel cells, the electrolysis of water, batteries or catalysts for the electrochemical hydrogenation of organic species are concerned. Mesoporous nickel electrodes have been electrodeposited by reduction of a nickel(II) solution dissolved within the aqueous... 

The actual reaction is more complicated than equation (12.1) becausephosphorous and protons are also reduced. As a result, a nickel phosphorous alloy rather than pure nickel is obtained. Under appropriate conditions, the reduction reactions only take place at the metal surface, which acts as a catalyst. Electroless plating thus produces a compact coating of uniform thickness all over the substrate surface. In contrast to electrodeposition, electroless plating can also be used with insulating substrates, such as polymers, the surface of which has been previously activated by a suitable catalyst. 

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