High Throughput Method for Hydrogen Permeability Measurement of Pd Alloy Membranes

Guo, Boyu

High Throughput Method for Hydrogen Permeability Measurement of Pd Alloy Membranes

Abstract

Hydrogen is a promising source for future energy because of its energy density, low emission, and the ability to be obtained from various sources. The development of a Pd alloy that has high H2 permeability and low cost is desired as people are looking for cost-effective method for H2 separation. We present a method that utilizes hydrogenography and yttrium indicator to perform simultaneous analysis of H2 permeability of 89 different compositions of Pd alloy. Sputtering deposition and photolithography processing are used to prepare the samples, while Hough transformation is used to analyze the expansion of color changed area on the indicator and calculate the hydrogen permeability of the test material. The validity of our method is checked using pure Pd, and the results of PdCu alloy, PdRu alloy, PdMo alloy, and PdAgAu alloy are presented. It is observed that in PdRu alloy that a high Pd concentration leads to high hydrogen permeability. The same behavior was observed in PdCu alloy, but the hydrogen dissociation reaction is turned off when Cu concentration is higher than 20at.%. The addition of Mo to Pd shuts down the diffusion of hydrogen atoms inside the test material. In PdAgAu alloy high Pd concentration shows high hydrogen permeability, but the permeability drops quickly with the decrease in Pd concentration, and the hydrogen dissociation reaction shuts down when the Pd concentration drops below 35at.%.

Date Issued

2017-08-30

Keywords

Photolithography; Sputtering Deposition; thin film; Materials Science; Engineering; Hydrogen; Palladium; Permeability

Committee Chair

Van Dover, Robert B.

Committee Member

Suntivich, Jin

Degree Discipline

Materials Science and Engineering

Degree Name

M.S., Materials Science and Engineering

Degree Level

Master of Science

Types

dissertation or thesis