Palladium-based amorphous alloys

In this respect palladium is superior to all other platinum group metals, but it cannot be used because of its fast dissolution under working conditions. On the other hand, it has been known that certain amorphous alloys have extremely high corrosion resistance (S). These facts led to the studies of amorphous palladium-based alloys as anode materials in the electrolysis of soda. 

The surface activation consisting of zinc deposition, heat treatment, and subsequent leaching of zinc (63, 64) was applied to different amorphous iron-, cobalt-, nickel-, and palladium-based alloys (63, 64). SEM measurements indicated the formation of a porous surface layer. Cyclic voltammetric examinations suggested an increase of surface area by about two orders of magnitude. Heat treatments at higher temperatures resulted in thicker, more porous surface layers and higher electrocatalytic activities (Table II). Palladium-phosphorus alloys with Ni, Pt, Ru, or Rh proved to be the best specimens. Pd-Ni-P with 5% Ni, after treatment at 573 K, exhibited even higher activity than that of the Pt-Pt electrode (Table II). These amorphous alloy electrodes were active in the oxidation of methanol, formaldehyde, and sodium formate. 

Abstract In this chapter, recent progress on palladium (Pd)-based membrane reactors (MRs) is outUned concentrating, in particular, on the production of pure hydrogen. Aspects of many reactions, as well as analysis of both the Pd-based and the amorphous membranes under study, and the governing equations are presented. Some critical aspects of non-Pd-based membranes are also discussed. All the preparation techniques for pure, alloyed, amorphous, non-Pd-based membranes used in MRs are briefly summarized and compared. Moreover, some problems related to the effect of contamination of the Pd-based membranes on the H2 flux are discussed. 

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