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High Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) and Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction (HOR) Activity RhxSy Catalyst Synthesized with Na2S for Hydrogen-Bromine Fuel Cell

Li, Yuanchao
; 
Van Nguyen, Trung
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Abstract
A RhxSy/C catalyst with high mass-specific electrochemical surface area (ECSA/mass), high hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR)/hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity, and high NafionĀ® ionomer-affinity was synthesized and evaluated. A new sulfur source, Na2S instead of (NH4)2S2O3, was applied to prepare the rhodium sulfide precursor Rh2S3 that resulted in a RhxSy catalyst with higher HOR/HER catalytic activity after thermal treatment. The higher activity was attributed to the higher quantity formation of the more active phase Rh3S4, in addition to the other active Rh17S15 phase, in the RhxSy catalyst. Using this new sulfur source, carbon substrate functionalization, and the mass-transfer-controlled nanoparticle growth process, the average particle size of this catalyst was reduced from 13.5 nm to 3.2 nm, and its ECSA/mass was increased from 9.3 m2/g-Rh to 43.0 m2/g-Rh. Finally, by applying the Baeyerā€“Villiger and ester hydrolysis process to convert the NafionĀ® ionomer-unfriendly ketone group on the carbon support surface to the Nafion ionomer-friendly carboxylic group, which increases the NafionĀ® affinity of this catalyst, its use in the hydrogen electrode of an H2-Br2 fuel cell resulted in a performance that is 2.5Ɨ higher than that of the fuel cell with a commercial RhxSy catalyst.
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Date
2020-08-02
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MDPI
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Chemical & Petroleum Engineering Scholarly Works
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Keywords
Hydrogen-bromine fuel cell, Rhodium sulfide catalyst, Hydrogen evolution, Hydrogen oxidation catalyst
Citation
Li, Y.; Nguyen, T.V. High Hydrogen Evolution Reaction (HER) and Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction (HOR) Activity RhxSy Catalyst Synthesized with Na2S for Hydrogen-Bromine Fuel Cell. Energies 2020, 13, 3971. https://doi.org/10.3390/en13153971
URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1808/33472
DOI
10.3390/en13153971
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