A New Type of PTFE‐Covered Gas Evolving Electrode

A new technique for the preparation of gas evolving electrodes is proposed and tested. Nickel electrodes have been investigated whose surfaces were covered by a large density of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) microscopic columnar islands obtained by reactive ion etching from a continuous PTFE film. Due to the hydrophobicity of the PTFE coverage, the gas bubble release rate from the electrode surface in a gas evolving reaction is increased, leading to high operation efficiencies. The preparation of the electrodes and their morphological and electrochemical characterizations are discussed.