The effect of surfactants on electrochemical hydrogen production

Abstract

One of the problems of اydrogen production by the electrochemical method is forming and remaining of hydrogen bubbles on the surface of the electrode, which leads to considerable reduction in efficiency of hydrogen generation. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of surface active agents on the quick departure of hydrogen bubbles and efficiency increase in electrochemical production of hydrogen in the electrolyte solution of the electrolysis cell. In this work, the common Platinum electrode used as a cathode electrode; and three surface active materials, anionic (sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate; SDBS), cationic (Cetyltrimethyl Ammonium Bromide; CTAB), and neutral (TritonX-100), are employed in order to investigate the effect of surface active agents. The efficiency of these surface active agents on hydrogen production is investigated by voltammetric methods with regard to current density, initial potential, flow stability, and charge transfer resistance. The results indicate that electrochemical generation of hydrogen in 0.5 M sulfuric acid containing 0.5 mM of active surface material (SDS) is the most efficient one at room temperature.

Keywords

• electrochemical hydrogen production
• surface active agents
• platinum electrode