Microfabricated palladium-silver alloy membranes and their application in hydrogen separation

A submicron-thick and defect-free palladium-silver (Pd-Ag) alloy membrane is manufactured using microfabrication technology. The microfabrication process creates a robust wafer-scale membrane module, which can easily be integrated into a holder with gastight connections. High separation fluxes of up to 4 mol of H-2/m(2.)s with a minimal selectivity of 1500 for H-2/He at 450 degreesC and 83 kPa of H-2 retentate pressure were obtained with this setup. The developed membrane technology has great potential for hydrogen purification and in. applications such as dehydrogenation.