Streaming Potential Boosted Efficient Hydrogen Production by Microfluidic Electrochemical Systems

The use of streaming potential in chemical production with microfluidic devices offers a promising approach to reducing energy consumption. This study explored H2 generation through the combined use of applied voltage and streaming potential in a microfluidic system. The microfluidic system with two platinum electrodes embedded in a microchannel was designed to explore the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and quantitative analysis was performed using the device with a liquid/gas loop system. The prepared microfluidic device demonstrated that the reduction current increased with flow rate when using an HCl aqueous solution. The results showed an increase in H2 production efficiency by up to 23 % compared to a static state, which can be attributed to the streaming potential. Enhancing chemical production efficiency through streaming potentials could contribute to establishing an innovative chemical production process using microfluidic devices.