Hydrogen production with reduced energy consumption for use in fuel cells and energy sector

Abstract

The possibility of increasing the hydrogen release rate and reducing energy consumption was analyzed using a system in which the anodic process of metal (aluminum) dissolution occurred on one electrode and the process of H 2 release -on the other (nickel) electrode. The possibility of generating hydrogen with a current density of ~ 400 mA cm -2 in NaOH solutions with a concentration of 6 ÷ 8 mol L -1 at a cell voltage of ~ 0.5 V was confirmed. When the electrodes were short-circuited, hydrogen was generated on nickel when aluminum was dissolved at a rate corresponding to current density ~ 100 mA cm -2 . The possibility of simultaneous hydrogen production and electricity generation in the system under consideration was shown. It was found that the maximum net power was generated in 6 M NaOH. The specific power in such a solution can MCCM_Template_Vers 4May 2014 2 reach a value of 8 W cm -2 at a cell voltage of about 0.15 V. In this case, the hydrogen release rate corresponded to a current density of 60 mA cm -2 .