Hydrogen permeation through porous stainless steel for palladium-based composite porous membranes

Surface topography and hydrogen permeation properties of Porous Stainless Steel (PSS) substrates for thin films deposition of Pd-based hydrogen separation membrane were investigated. Hydrogen permeance through the as received PSS substrates demonstrated a wide range, despite a similar average surface pore size of ~15µm determined by SEM and confocal laser microscopy analyses. The surface pores of the PSS substrates were modified by impregnation of varying amounts of tungsten (W) powder. Maximum hydrogen flux reduction of 28% suggested that W has a limited effect on the hydrogen permeation through the PSS substrate. Therefore, it appears that hydrogen transport through PSS substrates is mainly controlled by the substrate geometrical factor (ετ), that is the ratio of the porosity to tortuosity. In addition, tungsten was shown to inhibit the iron inter-diffusion between the PSS substrate and the deposited Pd60Cu40 film at temperature as high as 800°C. Thus, tungsten layer also serves as an effective inter-diffusion barrier. The variation in the permeance between the nominally similar PSS substrates indicates the importance to independently assess the hydrogen transport characteristics of each of the components in a composite membrane. •Porous stainless steel supports for composite porous membranes are investigated.•Hydrogen transport is dominated by Knudsen diffusion and Poiseuille flow.•Substrates’ geometrical factors significantly influence the overall hydrogen flux.•Tungsten impregnation can significantly reduce the pore size with only a limited effect on the hydrogen flux.