Deposition of TS-1 zeolite film on palladium membrane for enhancement of membrane stability

A thin TS-1 zeolite film was successfully fabricated on palladium membrane using an assembly method combined with secondary growth technique. The preparation of TS-1-Pd composite membrane involved three stages: (1) deposition of palladium layer on porous alumina support through electroless plating; (2) assembly of silicalite-1 zeolite seeds on the palladium layer; (3) growth of TS-1 layer from the zeolite seeds over the top surface of the palladium layer using hydrothermal synthesis method. The detailed microstructure of the TS-1-Pd composite membrane was examined by SEM, EDX, XRD, FT-IR and UV-vis. This architecture allows the composite membrane to remain stable for 10 days of hydrogen permeation tests at 773 K and tolerate 30 cycles in gas exchanging tests, even for 5 days of hydrogen permeation tests at 423 K. Furthermore, the presence of a TS-1 zeolite film on palladium membrane effectively protected the palladium membrane from the contamination from the hydrocarbon, therefore greatly enhanced its operation stability.