Rare Metal Fission Products in Nuclear Spent Fuel as Catalysts forHydrogen Production by Water Electrolysis

摘要

Separation and utilization of rare metal fission products (RMFP) in nuclear spent fuel werestudied to apply them as a catalyst for hydrogen generation by water electrolysis. The RMFP,namely Pd, Ru, Rh and Tc, etc, are abundant, more than ca. 30kg per metric ton of a typicalfast reactor spent fuel. The RMFP can be selectively separated from high level liquid waste(HLLW) by catalytic electrolytic extraction (CEE) method. Specific metallic cations such asPd 2+ , which originate in the solutions, may act as promoters (I.e., Pdadatom) or mediators,thereby accelerating electrochemical deposition of RuNO 3+ , Rh 3+ and ReO4 - (simulator TcO4 - ).In utilizing CEE method, electrodeposited electrodes were prepared, and successivelydedicated to the water (alkaline or artificial sea water) electrolysis tests. Among the RMFPdeposited electrodes, maximum potential shifting for hydrogen evolution to noble side wasobserved for the quaternary, Pd-Ru-Rh-Re (3.5:4:1:1), deposit Pt electrode, with suggestingthe highest cathodic currents for hydrogen evolution both in alkaline solution and artificialsea water. The electro catalytic activity of quaternary, Pd-Ru-Rh-Re (3.5:4:1:1), deposit Ptelectrode exceeded that of Pt electrode by ca. twice both in alkaline solution and artificial seawater.The paper conclusively proposes RMFP generated by nuclear fission to utilize as analternative material for hydrogen production with a novel vision to bridge nuclear andhydrogen energy systems.