Development of a H2-permeable Pd60Cu40-based composite membrane using a reverse build-up method

A new reverse build-up method is developed to fabricate an economical H-2-permeable composite membrane. Sputtering and electroplating are used for the formation of a membrane comprised of a 3.7-mu m-thick Pd60Cu40 (wt.%) alloy layer and a 13-mu m-thick porous Ni support layer, respectively. The H-2-permeation measurements are performed under the flow of a gaseous mixture of H-2 and He at 300-320 degrees C and 50-100 kPa of H-2 partial pressure. The H-2/He selectivity values exceed 300. The activation energy at 300-320 degrees C is 10.9 kJ mol(-1). The H-2 permeability of the membrane is 1.25 x 10(-8) mol m(-1) s(-1) Pa -0.5 at 320 degrees C after 448 h. The estimated Pd cost of the proposed membrane is approximately 1/8 of the cost for a pure Pd60Cu40 membrane. This study demonstrates that the proposed method allows the facile production of low-cost, Pd-based membranes for H-2 separation. (C) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

A new reverse build-up method is developed to fabricate an economical H-2-permeable composite membrane with excellent H-2 permeation performance, which can effectively reduce the production cost.