화학공학소재연구정보센터
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol.37, No.17, 12089-12096, 2012
Aromatic amines as proton carriers for catalytic enhancement of hydrogen evolution reaction on copper in acid solutions
The catalytic effect of some aromatic amines towards hydrogen evolution reaction on copper in diluted sulfuric acid solution has been studied. Since amines facilitate the transport of protons from the solution bulk to the interface in the cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction, they are known as proton carriers. The catalytic effect of aniline, N-methylaniline, N-ethylaniline, N,N-dimethylaniline, N,N-diethylaniline, o-toluidine, m-toluidine and p-toluidine has been highlighted by linear sweep voltammetry. The kinetic parameters for the hydrogen evolution reaction (cathodic transfer coefficient 1-alpha and exchange current density i(omicron)) in the presence of the studied aromatic amines were derived from the Tafel plots. It has been found that the catalytic effect of amines is active even at low concentration. Thus, in 0.5 mol L-1 H2SO4 solution the exchange current density increases by two orders of magnitude, from 2.01.10(-5) A m(-2) in the absence of aniline to 2.85.10(-3) A m(-2) in the presence of 10(-4) mol L-1 aniline. The influence of amines concentration on the catalytic effect is described in detail for the case of m-toluidine. The results obtained by voltammetry have been compared with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy data. Furthermore, the kinetic parameters for the hydrogen evolution reaction have been determined as a function of temperature and amines concentration. Copyright (C) 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.