PRODUÇÃO DE GÁS HIDROGÊNIO A PARTIR DA BIOMASSA E ELETRODOS DE BAIXO CUSTO

Abstract

The gradual increase in energy demand in the word and environmental concern, has driven research into the development of clean and renewable fuels, such as hydrogen gas. There are several ways to produce hydrogen, from raw materials such as fossil fuels, water and biomass, and the electrolysis of water is an interesting way because it is a relatively simple and renewable process. This work aims to the production of hydrogen gas via electrolysis of solutions of organic acids derived from biomass using low cost electrodes such as copper and stainless steel and possible catalysts such as EDTA in different concentrations. The tests were used the techniques of optical microscopy, cathodic potentiodynamic polarization, open circuit potential chronoamperometry, cyclic voltammetry and spectroscopy of electrochemical impedance. The results showed that ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid does not catalyze the production of hydrogen, but its addition in the 3 mol L-1 formic acid-containing system increases the amount of hydrogen gas produced. It is also noticed acetic acid is not a good electrolyte for a hydrogen release reaction, but in low concentration (10-4, 10-6 e 10-8 mol L-1) in formic acid 3 mol L-1 decreases the hydrogen-releasing overvoltage and increases the current density of the system, catalyzing the production of hydrogen and the system being 10-2 mol L-1 in formic acid 4 mol L-1 from experimental planning which produces the best result. It can be concluded that lowcost electrodes such as copper and 254 steel can be used as an alternative to platinum in the production of hydrogen at lower cost.