High throughput screening of Pd-alloys for H2 separation membranes studied by hydrogenography and CVM

The search for and development of stable Pd-based membranes for hydrogen separation applications with resistance to hydrogen embrittlement and cracking is a challenging and time-consuming task. Membrane failure is most often caused by the occurrence of the α–β phase transition during hydrogen absorption and desorption by the Pd-alloy below the critical temperature. By finding a suitable alloy with a critical temperature below room temperature, the membrane lifetime can be extended tremendously. Here we present a combinatorial approach that enables the fast screening of phase transitions in multi-component Pd-alloys for hydrogen separation membranes by experiments and thermodynamic calculations. The method is applied to the well-documented Pd–Cu alloy compositions. Hydrogenography, a compositional gradient thin film technique, is used to experimentally investigate the alloy compositions. Using a new phenomenological method to determine the critical temperature from hydrogenography measurements, we show that the experimental results and the calculations, using the Cluster Variation Method (CVM), agree well with the phase boundaries and critical temperatures reported in literature. Our results show that the combined capabilities of hydrogenography and CVM enable an efficient screening of promising multi-component alloys for which thermodynamic data are scarce or absent.