Improvements in electrocatalytic separation of hydrogen isotopes

Abstract

A remarkable improvement in the separation factor for isotopic substitution between protium and deuterium during alkaline water electrolysis has been achieved in addition to the electrocatalytic decrease of cathodic overvoltage by the in situ activation of various substrates with small additions of Tris-(ethylenediamine)-Co(III) chloride during the electrolytic process. The Rowland effect for the in situ depassivating and cleaning up preparation of substrate by ethylenediamine with subsequently provided clean deposition of cobalt has also been pointed out. The entire result consists of both the higher efficiency for isotopic separation of protium and deuterium, and substantially reduced the d.c. energy consumption. Some Brewer hypo-hyper-d-electronic combinations of transition element intermetallic phases have been investigated for the separation factor both plain and in situ activated with Tris-Co complex, and an interrelation with the bonding effectiveness was sought and inferred, also. © 1991.