Preparation of Ni–CeO2 composite coatings with high catalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction

• Supergravity field was developed into composite electrodeposition process.
• The nano-CeO2 particles in coating can obviously enhance the HER activity.
• The content of CeO2 particles in coating was increased under supergravity field.
• The finer grain size of composite coating was presented under supergravity field.

Ni–CeO2 composite coatings for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) were electrodeposited under supergravity field from nickel sulfamate bath containing suspended nano-sized CeO2 particles. The prepared Ni–CeO2 composite coatings exhibit finer grain size and higher CeO2 content than that prepared under normal gravity condition. In addition, Tafel curves were determined to study the catalytic activity of composite coatings electrodeposited under different supergravity fields in 1 M NaOH solution. The results indicated that Ni–CeO2 composite coating prepared under rotational speed 2350 rpm presents the highest electrocatalytic activity for HER, and its exchange current density reaches 338.4 μA cm−2, which is obviously better than the value ever reported in literature.