Nickel and its alloys have recently been emerged as potential catalytic electrode materials for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline media. The present work contemplates reinforcement of electroless Ni-P plate with ZrO2. The plate showed very high stability and excellent electrocatalytic activity. In situ incorporation of ZrO2 resulted in increase in the rate of deposition of Ni on steel substrate. There was high activation during the initial stage of the plating also. The electrocatalytic activity of the ZrO2-reinforced Ni electroless plate was found to be highly reproducible and long lasting when used for hydrogen evolution reaction. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.