A critical evaluation of platinum deposition techniques for hydrogen production in microbial electrolysis cells
Sánchez-Peña, Pilar (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
Rodriguez, Jesús (Centro Nacional de Hidrógeno)
Baeza Labat, Juan Antonio (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
Gabriel, David (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
Guisasola, Albert (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament d'Enginyeria Química, Biològica i Ambiental)
Baeza Labat, Maria del Mar (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Química)

Date:	2024
Description:	11 pàg.
Abstract:	Despite its high cost, Pt is the usual catalyst for hydrogen production in the cathode of Microbial Electrolysis Cells (MECs). Its effectiveness depends not only on the amount deposited but also on the availability and distribution of Pt nanoparticles on the cathode surface. This work provides a comprehensive study of the effectiveness of the Pt coating with five deposition techniques: spray, electrospray, brush painting, doctor blade and sputtering. The performance of the cathodes was studied with different Pt loadings by monitoring the current intensity and H2 production in MECs. Furthermore, cathodes were characterized morphologically using scanning electron microscopy together with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to study their Pt surface distribution and composition. Sputtering was initially discarded due to Pt detachment. When using the same amount of Pt (0. 50 mg Pt cm-2), the highest current density was obtained for electrospray (2. 0 mA cm-2), followed by spray (1. 9 mA cm-2), brush painting (1. 6 mA cm-2) and doctor blade (1. 2 mA cm-2). Hence, electrospray improved 20 % the results obtained by the default method of brush painting. Electrospray and spray provided better performance because of the direct deposition of Pt on the carbon fibres creating a compact Pt layer on the electrode surface. Furthermore, it was observed that the cell performance decreased significantly with decreasing amount of Pt per cm2, observing the best performance with the highest Pt load tested (0. 5 mg Pt cm-2) regardless of the deposition technique.
Grants:	Agencia Estatal de Investigación CTQ2017-82404-R Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2021/SGR-00515 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2018FI_B01161
Note:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Brush painting ; Doctor blade ; Electrospray ; Microbial electrolysis cell ; Spray ; Sputtering ; SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
Published in:	International journal of hydrogen energy, Vol. 90 (November 2024) , pag. 1012-1022, ISSN 1879-3487

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.09.341

11 p, 10.4 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Engineering > GENOCOV
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles