Comparative Investigation of the Hydrogen Production of Zinc/carbons Prepared from Non-activated Carbon and Surface-modified Activated Carbon by Treatment with Zinc Salts

Zn-AC and Zn-H-AC series prepared from non- and surface-modified activated carbon were investigated in terms of their hydrogen production capacity. An increase in the concentration of the zinc salts used with these series was shown to lead to a decrease in the values of the surface textural properties. The existence of zinc complexes on the surface was confirmed from an analysis of XRD data. The SEM micrographs of the two different sample types showed that the transformation of the carbon surface with an acid pre-treatment significantly change the metal contents on the surfaces of the carbon matrix. The EDX spectra indicated that all of the samples were richer in the amount of oxygen and zinc compared to any other elements. The results obtained using the Boehm's titration method showed that the positive introduction of the acidic groups on the carbon surfaces with the acid treatment is correlated with an increase in the amounts of zinc complexes with variation of the acidic groups. In terms of the hydrogen production performance, the volume fractions of the Zn-H-AC series were found to produce higher amounts than the Zn-AC series as a function of the metal contents considering the effects of the acid treatment.