CATALYTIC PROPERTIES OF Ni-V COATING IN THE PROCESS OF HYDROGEN RELEASE

Solar and hydrogen energy play an important role in providing a variety of industrial facilities with electricity and heat. One of the priorities of modern industry is to increase the production of environmentally friendly energy source – electrochemical synthesis of hydrogen. Modern methods of electrolysis of water do not meet the need for its use, due to the high cost of electrosynthesis of water-alkaline electrolysis, which depends on the material and energy consumption of electrolysis. The useful energy consumption for the production of energy – hydrogen at the cathode and "unnecessary" costs - for the release of oxygen at the anode, depend on the overvoltage of the respective reactions. Therefore, the most important problem of hydrogen energy is the synthesis of electrode materials with low overvoltage of O2 and H2. Electrode materials with low overvoltage will reduce the specific consumption of electricity in obtaining hydrogen by "classical" electrolysis. The prospects of reducing the cathodic and anodic overvoltage, which is a significant part of the voltage at the terminals of the cell, for the development of highly efficient and competitive technologies for hydrogen production by low-temperature electrolysis of an alkaline solution have been theoretically substantiated and experimentally confirmed. To reduce the overvoltage of the cathodic hydrogen evolution, it is proposed to modify the surface of the cathodes. The application of a small amount of electrolytic alloys of metals of the iron family with molybdenum and tungsten on nickel, cobalt, titanium and steel electrodes significantly (by 40–50 %) reduces the overvoltage of cathodic release of hydrogen from alkali solution. The use of steel electrodes, the surface of which is modified with vanadium and ni-ckel, reduces the voltage drop on the cell during the synthesis of H2 and O2 by 0.2–0.3 V, which creates conditions for reducing energy costs and energy savings.

CORROSION BEHAVIOR OF THE ELECTROLYTIC TERNARY COBALT ALLOYS WITH Mo(W) AND Zr IN ALKALINE SOLUTION

The ternary Co–Mo–W(Zr) coatings with total content of refractory metals of 30–40 wt.%, and Co–W–Zr alloys (12–26 wt.%) are deposited from pyrophosphate-citrate electrolytes in pulse regime. The composition of the coatings as well as the surface morphology depends on the current density. The X-ray diffraction patterns reflect the amorphous-and-crystalline ternary alloys structure. Phases of α-Co, Co–Mo intermetallic compounds, and traces of metallic molybdenum were detected in the Co–Mo–Zr coatings. Phase composition of Co–Mo–W deposits differs by emergence of Co7W6 phase and traces of metallic tungsten, and there is no metallic W in Co–W–Zr electrolytic alloys. The corrosion behavior of ternary coatings in alkaline medium studied by EIS shows that Co–Mo–Zr alloys are characterized by highest corrosion resistance among deposited coatings due to presence of metallic molybdenum and stoichiometric ZrO2 with both high electrical resistivity and chemical stability. The coatings Co–Mo–W and Co–Mo–Zr containing phases of Mo or W are characterized by higher corrosion resistance as compared with that without metallic molybdenum and tungsten. The cyclic voltammetry data confirm stability of ternary coatings in alkaline solution under anodic polarization. Such properties as well as the developed globular surface make materials promising for use as anodes in fuel cells in particular based on alkali electrolytes.