The influence of manufacturing parameters and adding support layer on the properties of Zirfon^® separators

Abstract

The composite separator comprising of polysulfone and zirconia was prepared by phase inversion precipitation technique. The influence of manufacturing parameters on its properties was investigated, and the results show that the manufacturing parameters affect the ionic resistance and maximum pore size significantly. A modified composite separator with a support layer was prepared to enhance the tensile strength of separator. By adding support layer, the tensile strength of the separator increases from 1.85 MPa to 13.66 MPa. In order to evaluate the practical applicability of the composite separator, a small-scale industrial electrolytic experiment was conducted to investigate the changes of cell voltage, gas purity and separator stability. The results show that the modified composite separator has a smaller cell voltage and a higher H₂ purity than the asbestos separator, and are promising material for industrial hydrogen production.

Keywords

separator / alkaline water electrolysis / manufacturing parameters / support layer

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Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg