Ni foam electrodes decorated with Ni nanoparticles via pulsed laser deposition for efficient hydrogen evolution reactionNi foam electrodes decorated with Ni nanoparticles via pulsed laser deposition for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction Peer-Reviewed Journal Publication Δημοσίευση σε Περιοδικό με Κριτές 2025-07-252024enIn this work, we investigated Nickel Foam (NF) electrodes decorated with Ni nanoparticles at various deposited thicknesses through the Pulsed Laser Deposition technique for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to gain insight into the structural and morphological characteristics of the prepared electrodes. The optimum deposition thickness was found to be 300 nm. The NF electrode decorated with 300 nm Ni nanoparticles (Ni/NF 300) exhibited improved electrochemical characteristics, i.e., reduced overpotential values |η10| = 0.11 V and lower Tafel slope 99 mV dec-1, as compared to the values of 0.24 V and 134 mV dec-1, respectively, for bare NF electrode. In addition, the Ni/NF 300 electrode presents a 15-fold increase in its electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) in comparison to an NF electrode.PL, MF, AK, NP acknowledge financial support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no 871124 Laserlab-Europe. The authors would like to acknowledge the HELLAS-CH national infrastructure (MIS 5002735) implemented under “Action for Strengthening Research and Innovation Infrastructures,” funded by the Operational Programme“ Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation” (NSRF 2014-2020) and co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund).http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Materials Science and Engineering: B299 Poimenidis Ioannis Ποιμενιδης Ιωαννης Papakosta Nikandra Klini Argyro Farsari Maria Moustaizis Stavros Μουσταιζης Σταυρος Konsolakis Michail Κονσολακης Μιχαηλ Loukakos Panagiotis Elsevier Pulsed laser deposition Nickel foam Ni nanoparticles Hydrogen evolution reaction Enhanced ECSA