Influence of Alloy Composition and Membrane Fabrication on the Pressure Dependence of the Hydrogen Flux of Palladium−Copper Membranes

Nano-enabled gas separation membranes: Advancing sustainability in the energy-environment Nexus

Gas separation membranes serve as crucial to numerous industrial processes, including gas purification, energy production, and environmental protection. Recent advancements in nanomaterials have drastically revolutionized the process of developing tailored gas separation membranes, providing unreachable levels of control over the performance and characteristics of the membrane. The incorporation of cutting-edge nanomaterials into the composition of traditional polymer-based membranes has provided novel opportunities. This review critically analyses recent advancements, exploring the diverse types of nanomaterials employed, their synthesis techniques, and their integration into membrane matrices. The impact of nanomaterial incorporation on separation efficiency, selectivity, and structural integrity is evaluated across various gas separation scenarios. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms behind nanomaterial-enhanced gas transport are examined, shedding light on the intricate interactions between nanoscale components and gas molecules. The review also discusses potential drawbacks and considerations associated with nanomaterial utilization in membrane development, including scalability and long-term stability. This review article highlights nanomaterials' significant impact in revolutionizing the field of selective gas separation membranes, offering the potential for innovation and future directions in this ever-evolving sector.

Energy Application of Graphene Based Membrane: Hydrogen Separation

Hydrogen gas (H2 ) is a viable energy carrier that has the potential to replace the traditional fossil fuels and contribute to achieving zero net emissions, making it an attractive option for a hydrogen-based society. However, current H2 purification technologies are often limited by high energy consumption, and as a result, there is a growing demand for alternative techniques that offer higher H2 purity and energy efficiency. Membrane separation has emerged as a promising approach for obtaining high-purity H2 gas with low energy consumption. Nevertheless, despite years of development, commercial polymeric membranes have limited performance, prompting researchers to explore alternative materials. In this context, carbon-based membranes, specifically graphene-based nanomaterials, have gained significant attention as potential membrane materials due to their unique properties. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of carbon-based membranes for H2 gas separation, fabrication of the membrane, and its characterization, including their advantages and limitations. We also explore the current technological challenges and suggest insights into future research directions, highlighting potential ways to improve graphene-based membranes performance for H2 separations.

The opportunity of membrane technology for hydrogen purification in the power to hydrogen (P2H) roadmap: a review

The global energy market is in a transition towards low carbon fuel systems to ensure the sustainable development of our society and economy. This can be achieved by converting the surplus renewable energy into hydrogen gas. The injection of hydrogen (⩽10% v/v) in the existing natural gas pipelines is demonstrated to have negligible effects on the pipelines and is a promising solution for hydrogen transportation and storage if the end-user purification technologies for hydrogen recovery from hydrogen enriched natural gas (HENG) are in place. In this review, promising membrane technologies for hydrogen separation is revisited and presented. Dense metallic membranes are highlighted with the ability of producing 99.9999999% (v/v) purity hydrogen product. However, high operating temperature (⩾300 °C) incurs high energy penalty, thus, limits its application to hydrogen purification in the power to hydrogen roadmap. Polymeric membranes are a promising candidate for hydrogen separation with its commercial readiness. However, further investigation in the enhancement of H₂/CH₄ selectivity is crucial to improve the separation performance. The potential impacts of impurities in HENG on membrane performance are also discussed. The research and development outlook are presented, highlighting the essence of upscaling the membrane separation processes and the integration of membrane technology with pressure swing adsorption technology.

Improved benzene production from methane dehydroaromatization over Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts via hydrogen-permselective palladium membrane reactors

Catalytic Pd membrane reactors improve C₆H₆ yield compared to fixed-bed reactors.

Combining density functional theory and cluster expansion methods to predict H2 permeance through Pd-based binary alloy membranes

First-principles calculations offer a useful complement to experimental approaches for characterizing hydrogen permeance through dense metal membranes. A challenge in applying these methods to disordered alloys is to make quantitative predictions for the net solubility and diffusivity of interstitial H based on the spatially local information that can be obtained from first-principles calculations. In this study, we used a combination of density functional theory calculations and a cluster expansion method to describe interstitial H in alloys of composition Pd96M4, where M=Ag, Cu, and Rh. The cluster expansion approach highlights the shortcomings of simple lattice models that have been used in the past to study similar systems. We use Sieverts' law to calculate H solubility and a kinetic Monte Carlo scheme to find the diffusivity of H in PdAg, PdCu, and PdRh alloys at a temperature range of 400<or=T<or=1200 K. From these results, we are able to predict the permeability of hydrogen through membranes made from these Pd-based binary alloys.

Segregation and H2 Transport Rate Control in Body-Centered Cubic PdCu Membranes

The H2 permeation of a supported 2 microm thick Pd48Cu52 membrane was investigated between 373 and 909 K at DeltaP=0.1 MPa. The initial H2 flux was 0.3 mol.m(-2).s(-1) at 723 K with an ideal H2/N2 selectivity better than 5000. The membrane underwent a bcc-fcc (body-centered cubic to face-centered cubic) phase transition between 723 and 873 K resulting in compositional segregation. After reannealing at 723 K the alloy layer reverted to a bcc structure although a small fcc fraction remained behind. The mixed-phase morphology was analyzed combining X-ray diffraction with scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive spectroscopic analysis (SEM-EDS) measurements, which revealed micrometer-scale Cu-enriched bcc and Cu-depleted fcc domains. The H2 flux JH2 of the fcc Pd48Cu52 single phase layer prevailing above 873 K could be described by an Arrhenius law with JH2=(7.6+/-4.9) mol.m(-2).s(-1) exp[(-32.9+/-4.5) kJ.mol(-1)/(RT)]. The characterization of the H2 flux in the mixed-phase region required two Arrhenius laws, i.e., JH2=(1.35+/-0.14) mol.m(-2).s(-1) exp[(-10.3+/-0.5) kJ.mol(-1)/(RT)] between 523 and ca. 700 K and JH2=(56.1+/-9.3) mol.m(-2).s(-1) exp[(-25.3+/-0.6) kJ.mol(-1)/(RT)] below 454 K. The H2 flux exhibited a square root pressure dependence above 523 K, but the pressure exponent gradually increased to 0.77 upon cooling to 373 K. The activation energy and pressure dependence in the intermediate temperature range are consistent with a diffusion-limited H2 transport, while the changes of these characteristics at lower temperatures indicate a desorption-limited H2 flux. The prevalence of desorption as the permeation rate-limiting step below 454 K is attributed to the pairing of an extraordinarily high hydrogen diffusivity with a marginal hydrogen solubility in bcc PdCu alloys. These result in an acceleration of the bulk diffusion rate and a deceleration of the desorption rate, respectively, allowing the bulk diffusion rate to surpass the desorption rate up to relatively high temperatures.

Thin and defect-free Pd-based composite membrane without any interlayer and substrate penetration by a combined organic and inorganic process

A novel combined organic and inorganic process for preparing thin supported membrane was developed, using which a thin and defect-free Pd membrane with uniform thickness of 5 microm was directly coated onto porous alpha-Al2O3 hollow fiber without any interlayer and substrate penetration; at the same time, there existed a small interstice between membrane and substrate, which led to higher hydrogen permeance, infinite selectivity, and better membrane stability.

Prediction of Hydrogen Flux Through Sulfur-Tolerant Binary Alloy Membranes

Metal membranes play a vital role in hydrogen purification. Defect-free membranes can exhibit effectively infinite selectivity but must also provide high fluxes, resistance to poisoning, long operational lifetimes, and low cost. Alloying offers one route to improve on membranes based on pure metals such as palladium. We show how ab initio calculations and coarse-grained modeling can accurately predict hydrogen fluxes through binary alloy membranes as functions of alloy composition, temperature, and pressure. Our approach, which requires no experimental input apart from knowledge of bulk crystal structures, is demonstrated for palladium-copper alloys, which show nontrivial behavior due to the existence of face-centered cubic and body-centered cubic crystal structures and have the potential to resist sulfur poisoning. The accuracy of our approach is examined by a comparison with extensive experiments using thick foils at elevated temperatures. Our experiments also demonstrate the ability of these membranes to resist poisoning by hydrogen sulfide.