Trustees of the Colorado School of Mines

Paul Thoen

J Douglas Way

Mark Thomas Lusk

Sabina K Gade

The invention provides support-free palladium membranes and methods of making these membranes. Single-gas testing of the unsupported foils produced hydrogen permeabilities equivalent to thicker membranes produced by cold-rolling. Defect-free films as thin as 7.2 microns can be fabricated, with ideal H/Nselectivities as high as 40,000. Homogeneous membrane compositions may also be produced using these methods.

Unsupported palladium alloy membranes and methods of making same

The invention provides thin, hydrogen-permeable, sulfur-resistant membranes formed from palladium or palladium-alloy coatings on porous, ceramic or metal supports. Also disclosed are methods of making these membranes via sequential electroless plating techniques, wherein the method of making the membrane includes decomposing any organic ligands present on the substrate, reducing the palladium crystallites on the substrate to reduced palladium crystallites, depositing a film of palladium metal on the substrate and then depositing a second, gold film on the palladium film. These two metal films are then annealed at a temperature between about 200&#xb0; C. and about 1200&#xb0; C. to form a sulfur-resistant, composite PdAu alloy membrane.

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Littleton, CO, United States of America

Paul Thoen