• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.458-464
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• 2006

The Pd-Ni-Ag alloy composite membrane using modified porous stainless steel (PSS) as a substrate was prepared by a electroless plating technique. In this work, we have introduced the intermediate layer between Pd-based alloy and a metal substrate. As an intermediate layer, the mixtures of nickel powder and inorganic sol such as $SiO_{2}$ sol, $Al_{2}O_{3}$ sol, and $TiO_{2}$ sol were used. The intermediate layers were coated onto a PSS substrate according to various membrane preparation conditions and then $N_{2}$ fluxes through the membranes with different intermediate layers were measured. The surface morphology of the intermediate layer in the mixture of nickel powder and inorganic sol was analyzed using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Finally, the Pd-Ni-Ag alloy composite membrane using the support coated with the mixture of nickel powder and silica as an intermediate layer was fabricated and then the gas permeances for $H_{2}$ and $N_{2}$ through the Pd-based membrane were investigated. The selectivity of $H_2/N_2$ was infinite and the $H_{2}$ flux was $1.39{\times}10^{-2}mol/m^2{\cdot}s$ at the temperature of $500^{\circ}C$ and trans-membrane pressure difference of 1 bar.