Effect of Thiourea on the Kinetics of the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction at Iron and the Transport of Hydrogen through a Steel Membrane in Solutions of C2H4(OH)2-H2O-HCl

The effect of thiourea (0.5–10 mM) on the kinetics of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) at iron and the hydrogen transport through a steel membrane out of ethylene glycol (containing 2 and 10 wt % H2O) and aqueous solutions containing HCl (0.1–0.99 M) with a constant ionic strength equal to unity is studied in parallel experiments. The presence of 0.5 mM of thiourea in the solutions raises the overvoltage of hydrogen evolution, while a subsequent increase in its concentration does not effect the HER kinetics. The dependence of the flux of hydrogen diffusion through the membrane on the thiourea content passes through a maximum.