Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

PdAgAu alloy with high resistance to corrosion by H2S

Journal Article · · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [2];  [1]
  1. Inst. de Investigaciones en Catalisis y Petroquimica, Santa Fe (Argentina)
  2. Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering; National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, (United States)
  3. Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

PdAgAu alloy films were prepared on porous stainless steel supports by sequential electroless deposition. Two specific compositions, Pd83Ag2Au15 and Pd74Ag14Au12, were studied for their sulfur tolerance. The alloys and a reference Pd foil were exposed to 1000 H2S /H2 at 623 K for periods of 3 and 30 hours. The microstructure, morphology and bulk composition of both nonexposed and H2S-exposed samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). XRD and SEM analysis revealed time-dependent growth of a bulk Pd{sub 4}S phase on the Pd foil during H2S exposure. In contrast, the PdAgAu ternary alloys displayed the same FCC structure before and after H2S exposure. In agreement with the XRD and SEM results, sulfur was not detected in the bulk of either ternary alloy samples by EDS, even after 30 hours of H2S exposure. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) depth profiles were acquired for both PdAgAu alloys after 3 and 30 hours of exposure to characterize sulfur contamination near their surfaces. Very low S 2p and S 2s XPS signals were observed at the top-surfaces of the PdAgAu alloys, and those signals disappeared before the etch depth reached ~ 10 nm, even for samples exposed to H2S for 30 hours. The depth profile analyses also revealed silver and gold segregation to the surface of the alloys; preferential location of Au on the alloys surface may be related to their resistance to bulk sulfide formation. In preliminary tests, a PdAgAu alloy membrane displayed higher initial H{sub 2} permeability than a similarly prepared pure Pd sample and, consistent with resistance to bulk sulfide formation, lower permeability loss in H2S than pure Pd.

Research Organization:
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, and Morgantown, WV (United States). In-house Research
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE)
DOE Contract Number:
FE0004000
OSTI ID:
1129477
Report Number(s):
A-UNIV-PUB--020
Journal Information:
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Journal Name: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy Journal Issue: 23 Vol. 37; ISSN 0360-3199
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

PdCuAu ternary alloy membranes. Hydrogen permeation properties in the presence of H2S
Journal Article · Mon Dec 29 23:00:00 EST 2014 · Journal of Membrane Science · OSTI ID:1225783

Sulfur Tolerant Pd/Cu and Pd/Au Alloy Membranes for H2 Separation with High Pressure CO2 for Sequestration
Technical Report · Tue Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2008 · OSTI ID:952460

Hydrogen Dissociation on Pd4S Surfaces
Journal Article · Thu Oct 29 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Journal of Physical Chemistry. C · OSTI ID:1011121