Electrochemical production of hydrogen in fermented flour by stainless steel electrode

Abstract

Hydrogen gas production with an electrochemical method requires more energy. This research aimed to determine the efficiency of the electrolysis process in product and energy consumptions using stainless steel as a working electrode and various concentration of the fermented flour as the media. The fermented flour was prepared by fermentation of Manihot utilissima with Monascus sp. and characterized by infrared spectroscopy. The stainless steel was characterized by voltammetry, SEM-EDX, XRD and gas sorption analyzer. The results showed that stainless steel activity was decreased in the fermented flour because the surface of stainless steel was being covered. Moreover, addition of 0-2 g/L water fermented flour had relatively similar stainless steel activity. The cathodic current peaks were at -4.86 × 10-4 and -4.87 × 10-4 mA, respectively, for 0 and 2 g/L media. The processes had consumed the same energy with -0.0996 V of cathodic peak potential.