Preparation of palladium membrane by bio-membrane assisted electroless plating for hydrogen separation

• Thin palladium membrane was prepared on the internal surface of support.
• Palladium membrane was fabricated by bio-membrane assisted electroless plating.
• Contamination of Pd membrane during plating could be avoided by the egg-shell film.
• The membrane showed stable after long term operation and temperature rapid change.

Palladium membrane was prepared on the inner surface of alumina tube by bio-membrane assisted electroless plating combined with osmosis method (BELP). In this preparation technique, an egg-shell film not only served as a semipermeable membrane to form osmotic system for preparing palladium membrane, but also acted as a protection layer to prevent the contamination of the palladium membrane from the osmotic solution. Moreover, the plating solution was circulated through the tube side to promote the mass transfer on the solid–liquid interface between the plating surface and the solution. The detailed depositing process of the palladium membrane was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDXS). Both long term operation and temperature cycling test carried out for hydrogen and nitrogen permeation confirmed that the palladium membrane was stable.

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