Practical Study of Water Electrolysis for Solar Powered Hydrogen Production Using Stainless Steel Electrode and Sodium Hydroxide Solution

Gour Chand Mazumder, S M Nasif Shams, Abu Shahadat Md. Ibrahim, Md. Habibur Rahman

Water electrolysis is a very well-known and popular method for hydrogen production. The process is simple but there are various aspects to be considered for developing efficient system for water electrolysis.  This paper presents a practical study on different electrolysis conditions determining conclusion regarding contributing parameters. Stainless steel plates as electrode and sodium hydroxide solutions are used for data collection. Applying different conditions and physical arrangements the process behavior is observed and recorded for analysis. Theoretical aspects are compared with the observed characteristics of the process. Key aspects of parameters are determined by organized data and analysis. It has been found that the higher molarity of solution increases the current density and gas production rate for same size and same gap of electrode. The scenario is same for the increment of electrode size where gap and molarity is fixed. Gas production is directly proportional to molarity and electrode size. With the reduction of gap between electrodes results increment of current density and gas production at same size of electrode and same molarity of solution.  Gas production is inversely proportional to the gap between electrodes. Increment of voltage boosts the gas yields however temperature increases after a certain limit of applied voltage. At that point energy gets wasted through heat and not user for water splitting. Solar photovoltaic panels can easily be used for water electrolysis. Though the radiation gets changed over time the gas production would be according to the voltage and current output.   

https://doi.org/10.31871/IJNTR.5.3.43