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Abstract Additive manufacturing has changed the landscape of fabrication, with it being a cost-effective, scalable and efficient than traditional manufacturing. However, it is still far from being used as means to fabricate electrodes, especially techniques like Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF). A commercially available graphitic-polylactic acid (PLA) named G–PLA filament is used for designing electrodes via 3D printing. High PLA content makes the filament poorly conductive. To overcome this limitation a stepwise surface modification strategy was employed for electrodes to reduce their resistance and substantially increase electrocatalytic activity. The electrodes were first treated with N , N -dimethylformamide (DMF) to dissolve PLA followed by Cu sputtering to introduce a metallic interlayer. The electrodeposition of a bimetallic NiCo layer on the Cu, confirmed the sequential evolution from a polymer-rich insulating substrate to a working conducting electrode. While FE-SEM revealed progressive surface activation and the formation of NiCo structures. Further, current–voltage (I–V) and optical contact angle (OCA) measurements have been studied systematically. Electrochemically, the pristine G–PLA electrode remained below 0.1 mA cm −2 current density, whereas electrodeposited NiCo on Cu-sputtered G-PLA electrode which achieved a corrected overpotential ∼300 mV for 10 mA cm −2 for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), while showing 90% retention in 24 h continuous operation. This work combines 3D printing and surface engineering to create scalable electrodes for electrocatalysis.