Thermochemical water-splitting for H2 generation using sol-gel derived Mn-ferrite in a packed bed reactor

This paper reports synthesis of Mn-ferrite using sol-gel technique, which involved the addition of Mn and Fe salts in ethanol followed by gelation using propylene oxide (PO). As-prepared gels were aged, dried and calcined rapidly upto different temperatures of 600 degrees C-900 degrees C and quenched in air. Calcined powders obtained were analyzed using x-ray diffraction, BET surface area analyzer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The gels calcined rapidly upto 600 degrees C and quenched in air resulted into a phase pure Mn-ferrite with porous/nanoparticle morphology and higher SSA. The H-2 generation ability of the calcined powder was investigated by performing multiple thermochemical cycles in the Inconel packed bed reactor. In addition, the effects of several process parameters such as water-splitting temperature (T-ws), regeneration temperature (T-reg), regeneration time (t(reg)) and volumetric flow rate of water (v(o)) on H-2 generation ability of Mn-ferrite were investigated in detail. Copyright (C) 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.