The electrocatalytic activity of nickel copper (Ni-Cu) alloy coated electrodes for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in an alkaline media was studied. The Ni-Cu alloys were electrodeposited on a Cu substrate by direct current (DC) and pulse current (PC) electrodeposition in a fixed plating bath. A wide alloy composition range (6-81 mol% Ni) was achieved by controlling the applied current density between 5 and 300 mA cm(-2). It was found that the electrocatalytic activity for the HER depended on the composition of the Ni Cu alloys, where electrodes having low Ni content gave high electrocatalytic activities. DC electrodeposition resulted in better electrocatalytic performances than PC. Pulse plating parameters other than the magnitude of the applied current density did not substantially influence the electrocatalytic performance of the Ni Cu alloy electrodes. Ni content was found to have a stronger effect on the electrocatalytic activity for the HER than the deposit morphology. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.