Palladium-copper membrane prepared by electroless plating for hydrogen separation at low temperature

Abstract

Pd-based membranes are often used to purify hydrogen, but often fail as a result of phase changes at low temperatures. In this study, an electroless plated Pd-Cu membrane was produced to purify hydrogen generated during various low temperature processes. The membrane was fabricated by sequential electroless plating of Pd and Cu with hydrazine as a reducing agent, followed by alloying in a hydrogen atmosphere. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses confirmed that the Pd-Cu layer was successfully alloyed, and thickness of the alloy layer was 23.74 µm. The hydrogen permeability of the Pd-Cu membrane prepared in this work was significantly increased compared to the previously published results. The hydrogen permeation flux of 0.6 m3 m−2 h−1 for the Pd-Cu membrane was stable over a period of 10 h at 175 °C without suffering hydrogen embrittlement and was stable over a temperature cycle. Finally, hydrogen temperature-programmed desorption (H2-TPD) confirmed that the desorption properties of hydrogen were changed by using this Pd-Cu alloy.