Carbon Nanotube/Magnesium Composite as a Hydrogen Source

Hydrogen produced using the steam reforming process contains sulfur and carbon monoxide that are harmful to the Pt catalyst in proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). However, CO-free hydrogen can be generated from the hydrolysis of either Al in strongly alkaline water or Mg in neutral water with chlorides such as sea water. The hydrogen generation rate from the hydrolysis of Mg is extremely slow and linearly proportional to the corrosion rate of Mg in chloride water. In this work, we fabricated a carbon nanotube (CNT)--reinforced Mg--matrix composite by Spark Plasma Sintering as a fast hydrogen generation source for a PEMFC. The CNTs distributed in the Mg matrix act as numerous local cathodes, and hence cause severe galvanic corrosion between the Mg-matrix anode and CNT-cathode in NaCl solution. It was found that the hydrogen generation rate from the hydrolysis of the 5 vol.% CNT/Mg composite is 3300 times faster than that of the Mg without CNTs due primarily to the galvanic corrosion effect.