Proceedings of MATSUS Spring 2024 Conference (MATSUS24)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.matsus.2024.295
Publication date: 18th December 2023
Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is one of the few truly renewable pathways toward “green” H2 production. All PEC water splitting devices demonstrated thus far operate at atmospheric pressure. However, most applications and processes that use H2 require it to be supplied at elevated pressure. Although PEC-generated H2 can be pressurized afterward with e.g. mechanical compression, operating the PEC water-splitting device itself at elevated pressure offers an intriguing alternative and several possible advantages. For example, bubble formation is strongly reduced at elevated pressure, which lowers bubble-induced electrode deactivation and bubble-induced product crossover.[1,2] In addition, the optical reflection and diffraction losses induced by bubbles can be minimized.[3] Finally, the electrochemical production of hydrogen at higher pressure requires only a small (though not insignificant) increase in the thermodynamic cell voltage (29 mV for a 10-fold increase in pressure).[4] To quantitatively evaluate these pros and cons, a device that can be used for PEC water splitting at higher pressure is required.
In this work, we demonstrate a membrane-free, laminar flow cell that enables PEC water splitting at elevated pressure (see the TOC graphic for the schematic of the cell). In such a cell, a continuous, laminar liquid flow is essential for adequate product separation. Therefore, the flow velocity profile between the two parallel electrodes was examined using particle image velocimetry (PIV). A nearly parabolic velocity profile was obtained. This observation agrees well with the finite element simulation results. Shadowgraph images also show that O2 bubbles are restricted to the vicinity of the anode due to the laminar liquid flow. The design of our PEC flow cell also allows operation at moderate pressure elevation, up to 5 barg, without any observed leakage. More importantly, the pressure elevation significantly diminished the bubble curtain, potentially leading to a higher photoelectrochemical performance due to smaller bubble-induced drawbacks. Finally, we will discuss a quantitative comparison of the benefits and drawbacks of performing PEC water splitting at elevated pressure using our laminar flow cell.
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