Development of porous metal supports for H2 separation membranes: Surface modification

Porous metal supports are critical for the manufacturing of hydrogen separation membranes. An adequate support allows depositing a minimum Pd coating which in the end will result in better membrane performance. The surface of the support and in particular the pore size is of prime importance. This work studies the development of metal supports, 316L stainless steel with controlled pore size. To this end secondary surface modification by means of mechanical process and chemical etching was carried out to adapt the pore size to the needs of the application. It was found that the surface (pore size and roughness) can be strongly modified by the variation of the previously mentioned parameters and secondary processes. Pore sizes below 5 microns can be obtained and thus effectively used for membrane manufacturing. Finally, a membrane with 7 microns of continuous Palladium layer has been successfully obtained.