Hydrogen Transport through Palladium-Coated Niobium Membranes

The paper presents the synthesis of a nanocrystalline coating for modification of the Pd-Nb-Pd composite membrane surface. The nanostructured palladium coating is synthesized by electrochemical deposition. Within the excess pressure range and at 300 degrees C operating temperature, the hydrogen flux through the palladiumcoated niobium membrane is 0.024 mol/(s center dot m(2)). For membranes modified with the nanostructured palladium coating, this value is 1.6 times higher than for the uncoated membranes. It is shown that the membrane surface modified with the nanostructured palladium coating enhances the hydrogen transport through Pd-Nb-Pd composite membranes due to the acceleration of the surface dissociative-associative processes.