Hydrogen is nowadays mentioned as a future energy source because it does not contain carbon and thus causes no direct carbon compound emissions when used for energy purposes. Most hydrogen is currently produced from natural gas, with only a fraction produced by electrolysis. Water electrolysis, the process of decomposing water into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity, is a promising method for hydrogen production if renewable electricity is used. Using a high-speed camera, we observed the growth of hydrogen bubbles on microelectrodes of different sizes and in different concentrations of the H2SO4 in an electrolytic cell. The bubble diameters increased with increasing voltage, while at the same time, they also took longer to form. A smaller electrode surface and lower H2SO4 concentration separately contributed to larger bubble diameters, which grew slowly. We demonstrated that the size of the microelectrode, voltage, and electrolyte concentration significantly influence the electrolysis process and the growth of hydrogen bubbles. The results contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of electrolytic processes and aid in optimizing electrolytic systems for more efficient hydrogen production, which represents a potential to develop new technologies in the field of energy efficiency, sustainable energy sources, and environmentally friendly energy solutions.
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