Pd-Au Electrocatalysts for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction at Neutral pH

Elitsa Chorbadzhiyska,Lori Nalbandian,Yolina Hubenova,Antigoni Evdou,Georgi Hristov,Nina Dimcheva,Mario Mitov

doi:10.1155/2014/239270

Abstract

Pd-Au codeposits with different ratio of both metals were electrodeposited on carbon felt, characterized by scanning electron microscopy, and investigated as electrocatalysts towards hydrogen evolution reaction in neutral phosphate buffer solution. The quantities of the produced hydrogen gas with different electrocatalysts, estimated from data obtained by chronoamperometry, were confirmed by mass spectrometry analysis. The highest hydrogen evolution rate was achieved with the electrocatalysts, produced from electrolyte with equal Pd and Au content.

Highlights

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) takes place at the cathode in many industrial electrolysis processes with aqueous electrolytes
Scanning electron microscopy showed that the supporting material itself has a fiber-like structure, which provides significant active surface
Earlier studies [14] have proved that each globular structure is formed by large number of nanosized particles, whose shape is strongly affected by the percentage of gold in the deposit and changes from needle-like crystallites to cauliflowerlike shape, observed with Au-enriched crystallites

Summary

Introduction

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) takes place at the cathode in many industrial electrolysis processes with aqueous electrolytes. The choice of cathode material strongly affects the kinetics of HER as the exchange current density on different metals varies several orders of magnitude [1]. This is especially important for some innovative technologies such as microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) [2] and solar water splitting cells [3], where hydrogen production is the main target. The cathode process in MEC is the same as that of a water electrolyzer [4], the operational conditions in both systems are completely different [5]. As the MECs use the same bioanodes as those in microbial fuel cells (MFCs), the crucial point for their practical application is to find effective cathodic catalysts at neutral electrolytes [6]

Methods

Results

Conclusion