Palladium‐Engineered Stainless Steel Mesh for Efficient Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution

Developing durable and cost‐effective electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in alkaline media is critical for practical water electrolysis. Herein, we report a simple electrodeposition strategy to engineer commercial stainless steel mesh (SSM) with palladium (Pd) nanostructures, producing a high‐performance Pd/SSM electrode for alkaline HER. Structural and morphological analyses confirm the successful formation of crystalline Pd nanodomains uniformly distributed over the three‐dimensional conductive mesh while preserving the integrity of the stainless steel substrate. The Pd modification markedly improves HER activity in 1.0 M KOH, lowering the overpotential at 10 mA cm −2 from 350 mV for bare SSM to 119 mV for Pd/SSM. In addition, Pd/SSM exhibits a reduced Tafel slope, a much lower polarization resistance, and a higher double‐layer capacitance, revealing accelerated charge–transfer kinetics and an increased density of accessible active sites. Chronopotentiometric measurements further demonstrate excellent operational durability over 24 h at 10, 50, and 100 mA cm −2 , with minimal potential drift under continuous cathodic operation. Post‐stability XRD and ICP‐OES analyses confirmed the structural and compositional stability of the Pd/SSM electrode. This work demonstrates an effective route for transforming a low‐cost commercial metal mesh into a robust and efficient HER electrode while minimizing noble‐metal usage for scalable alkaline hydrogen production.