Energy consumption and stability of the Ni-Mo electrodes for the alkaline hydrogen production at industrial conditions

Abstract

Hydrogen production via electrolysis of water from alkaline aqueous electrolytes is a well-established conventional technology. However, the cost of hydrogen produced in such a way is high. To improve this process we have investigated in situ activation with Ni-Mo electrocatalytic material for electrodes. This two d-metal combination possesses one of the highest known activities for the HER. Ni-Mo based catalyst was not applied at industrial applications yet, because under industrial conditions (high temperature and concentrated alkaline solution), permanent destruction of the Ni-Mo alloy coating occurs. The most important result of this study is that the Ni-Mo deposit obtained by in situ activation, under industrial conditions, exhibit long term stability and the electrodes retain their high catalytic performance. The process of adding Ni-Mo activating compounds in situ exhibits savings of the energy consumption that can go beyond 20% in some cases. Copyright (C) 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.