In the 1980s and 1990s, the development of oxygen ion conductors for solid electrolytes, as well as mixed oxygen–electron conductors as electrodes for solid oxide fuel cells, brought scientists to envision a possibility of mixed-conducting oxygenpermeable ceramic membranes. Today this field is well established, and ceramic membranes are close to implementation in processes for oxygen extraction...

Novel cermet (i.e., ceramic-metal composite) membranes have been developed for separating hydrogen from product streams that are generated during coal gasification, methane partial oxidation, and watergas shift reactions. The hydrogen permeation rate in the temperature range of 600-900°C has been measured for three classes (ANL-1, -2, and -3) of cermet membranes. ANL-3 membranes provided the hi...

There is a global push to develop a range of hydrogen technologies for timely adoption of the hydrogen economy. This is critical in view of the depleting oil reserves and looming transport fuel shortage, global warming, and increasing pollution. Molecular hydrogen (H2) can be generated by a number of renewable and fossil-fuel-based resources. However, given the high cost of H2 generation by ren...

An innovative process for the microfabrication of Pd-based membranes (Pd and Pd-Ag) on a <110> silicon wafer is presented. Pd-Ag alloy films containing 23wt% Ag are prepared by a dual-sputtering from pure Pd and Ag targets. In the first step, deep grooves are KOH etched in one side of a <110> oriented silicon wafer, leaving membranes with a thickness of ca. 50 μm. After Pd alloy deposition on t...