Regeneration of Exhausted Palladium-Based Membranes: Recycling Process and Economics.

The aim of the present work is the recycling treatment of tubular α-AlO-supported ceramic membranes with a Pd/Ag selective layer, employed in hydrogen production with integrated CO capture. A nitric acid leaching treatment was investigated, and recovered ceramic supports were characterized, demonstrating their suitability for the production of novel efficient membranes. The main objective was the metal dissolution that preserved the support integrity in order to allow the recovered membrane to be suitable for a new deposition of the selective layer.