Effects of Porous Alumina Support and Plating Time on Electroless Plating of Palladium Membrane

The present work was focused on the preparation of palladium alloy membranes and the effect of properties of ceramic support on the composited membrane morphology. Palladium-base membrane is known to have high selectivity and stability for hydrogen separation. In order to increase hydrogen permeation and separation factor, the membrane must be thinner and defect-free. Palladium membrane supported on a porous alumina prepared by electroless plating is the promising method to provide good hydrogen permeability. The alumina tube substrate was pre-seeded by immersing in the palladium acetate solution and followed by reduction in the alkaline hydrazine solution. After that, the deposition of palladium membrane could be achieved from the plating bath containing ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) stabilized palladium complex and hydrazine. The morphology of palladium film was observed to progress as a function of plating time and a dense layer membrane was available after plating for 3 h. The porosity of ceramic support exhibited an effect on the microstructure of deposited film such that the support with low porosity tended to achieve a defect free palladium membrane.