Mechanism and Kinetics of the Hydrogen Failure of Thermoelectric Materials during Water Electrolysis

The mechanism and kinetics of the ultrafast hydrogen failure of thermoelectric materials in electrochemical cells during water electrolysis ( T = 300 K) are studied. The effect is explained by the “gas” failure caused by the penetration of nonequilibrium hydrogen into the material volume followed by molization (2H + + 2e – → H 2 ) at lattice defects, which is substantially accelerated due to the fast combined (“chemical”) diffusion of H + protons and e – band electrons in the material.