Catalyst, preparation method and application

The present invention discloses a catalyst comprising a nickel substrate, and a catalytic activity surface layer attached to the nickel substrate; the catalytic activity surface layer contains a rare earth element and a nickel metal element, wherein the rare earth element comprises at least one of scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium and samarium. The invention also provides a preparation method and application of the catalyst. The rare earth metal compound and the nickel metal powder are used as raw materials, the extremely low-content rare earth metal is successfully introduced into the substrate nickel in a high-temperature spraying mode, and the activity and stability of the nickel-based catalyst in alkaline complete hydrolysis water are remarkably improved. Compared with an existing water electrolysis catalyst, the material is cheap in preparation raw material and simple and convenient in method, and can assist in solving the problems of low water electrolysis efficiency, high en