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AssigneeUnited Technologies Corporation
InventorDaniel H. Grantham
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Radiant energy in conjunction with a boron phosphide semiconducting electrode to at least partially power an electrolytic cell is used in the generation of hydrogen, utilizing a bromide, preferably hydrogen bromide, as the essential electrolyte component in the electrolytic cell to solve overvoltage and corrosion problems associated with the use of conventional electrolytes in similar environments. The use of the bromide electrolyte results in the broadening of the selection of semiconductor electrodes which can be used in the process and apparatus of the present invention enabling the boron phosphide semiconducting electrode to be used with superior anticorrosive and radiant energy gathering results over conventional systems. The boron phosphide semiconductors employed can be either boron phosphide alone or multilayered structures with other semiconducting material. The hydrogen generated from such systems can be used to power a fuel cell.
A process for producing hydrogen gas from an electrolyte solution in an electrolyte cell, wherein the improvement comprises utilizing a solution of a bromide compound as the electrolyte in conjunction with radiant energy, and an n-type semiconducting boron phosphide electrode to at least partially power the electrolytic cell.
The process of producing hydrogen gas in an electrolytic cell comprising:
A process of producing hydrogen gas in an electrolytic cell comprising:
The process of producing hydrogen gas in an electrolytic cell comprising providing an electrolytic cell enclosure containing a bromide electrolyte solution;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.