Fabrication of defect-free Pd/ α-Al 2O 3 composite membranes for hydrogen separation

Abstract

Hydrogen production and separation are two important chemical processes. The development of membrane technology has opened up a new possibility for in situ separation of hydrogen from a reaction mixture at elevated temperature in an energy effective way. The availability of a membrane with adequate hydrogen permselectivity and good thermal and mechanical stability is the key for the successful application of membrane technology in hydrogen production and separation. In this paper, a thin-film, defect-free Pd/ α-Al 2O 3 composite membrane was fabricated by the electroless plating technique combined with osmosis. The hydrogen permeation performance of the fabricated Pd/ α-Al 2O 3 composite membrane was investigated using pure hydrogen at various temperatures from 320–577°C. The hydrogen separation performance was studied using a hydrogen/nitrogen mixture at 467°C. The influence of sweep gas was also investigated.