Title
Low-cost nanostructured electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution in an anion exchange membrane lignin electrolysis cell
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2019
Abstract
© The Author(s) 2019. The aim of this study is to quantify the hydrogen production rate in an anion exchange membrane (AEM) lignin electrolysis cell. Two non-precious and nanostructured metal and metal oxide electrocatalysts were developed and used as the anodic catalysts in a lignin electrolysis process. H2 production rates, energy consumption rates and faradaic efficiency were measured using β-PbO2/MWNTs and Ni-Co/TiO2 electrocatalysts as the anode, where electrochemical depolymerization of lignin occurs. Our results were then compared with recent efforts for lignin electrolysis in the literature. This work demonstrates that the β-PbO2/MWNTs nanocomposite is the more stable and active electrocatalyst in this process. At the end, our results showed that using β-PbO2/MWNTs as the anodic electrocatalyst can enhance lignin oxidation rates, with a corresponding increase in the rate of H2 production at the cathode. As a result, this can lead to high hydrogen evolution rates (∼45.6 mL/h), and increase energy efficiency by 20%, compared to a commercial alkaline water electrolyzer.
Recommended Citation
Bateni, Fazel; NaderiNasrabadi, Mahtab; Ghahremani, Raziyeh; and Staser, John A., "Low-cost nanostructured electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution in an anion exchange membrane lignin electrolysis cell" (2019). Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Open Access Publications. 3.
https://ohioopen.library.ohio.edu/chemical-oapub/3