TFP hydrogen has been focusing on the scale up for work package 4, the Nickle Molybdenum on carbon catalyst synthesized by CNR-ITAE. In the last quarter of 2021 several batches of NiMo/C were made at TFP Hydrogen and their electrochemical performance compared to the NiMo/KB synthesized at CNR-ITAE. Further testing determined that the (CNR) NiMo/KB produced the highest activity and TFP-H would take the lead in synthesizing a 100g batch.
The synthesis of the hydroxide step took place early 2022, however we felt that the timings and increased potential for sintering for the large batch using the standard reduction method were not up to our standards. Using this first batch as our test batch we endeavored to create a methodology that would eclipse the first 100g batch in a efficiency and electrochemical performance.
This further testing focused entirely on the reduction step, experimenting with the Hydrogen in Argon concentration, dwell times and reduction batch size. With the goal of determining the maximum batch size, minimum dwell time and optimum Hydrogen in Argon concentration.
Several steps have already been made to perfect this method, one example being the addition of a nitrogen flush 1 hour after cool down, decreasing the chance of continued reduction upon contact with air and potential sintering upon removal. This relatively small step resulted in an increase in large batch activity from one sample to the next.
We hope that by the end of the February 2022 we will have synthesized a second 100g batch, that matches the small scale CNR batch in activity and to have formulated a method for future large scale catalyst manufacture.
