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Graduate Studies

Waste to an Asset, H2S to Hydrogen: A DFT Study

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Electrolysis of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) offers a green and zero-emission process for producing hydrogen and for treating the harmful H2S from oil and gas industries. However, the development of such technology requires an efficient and stable catalyst. Herein, we investigate the mechanism of electrochemical H2S oxidation reaction (H2SOR) over various metal oxides and metal sulfides using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations. We demonstrate why RuO2 has been widely reported as an active H2SOR catalyst. We also show that metal oxides are susceptible to sulfur poisoning, which makes their long-term commercial operation challenging. By including surface coverage analysis for S-intermediates, we identify TiO2 as a promising and durable catalyst for H2SOR with 0.49 V calculated overpotential. We also investigated the H2SOR activity of pristine and doped metal sulfides. We show that even doping metal sulfides reduces the overpotential needed to drive the H2SOR and facilitates hydrogen production. This research paves the way for the creation of more effective catalysts by providing a computational understanding of H2S electrolysis over various catalysts.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science (MSc)
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Chemistry
Grantor dc:publisher.institution
Graduate Studies
Year dc:date.issued
2023

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Baratifar, Sam
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Dolgos, Michelle
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Marriot, Robert
  • Kennepohl, Pierre

Subjects

dc:subject × 4

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/117069

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Calgary
Base URL
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Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Baratifar, Sam. Waste to an Asset, H2S to Hydrogen: A DFT Study. Graduate Studies, 2023. https://hdl.handle.net/1880/117069