Demonstration

Cite This: J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc

Reusing a Hard Drive Platter To Demonstrate Electrocatalysts for

Hydrogen and Oxygen Evolution Reactions
Ricardo H. Gonçalves*
Department of Chemistry, Maringa State University, Av. Colombo 5790, 87020-900 Maringa, Parana, Brazil
*
S Supporting Information

ABSTRACT: This demonstration brings the simplest multidisciplinary

approach to evaluate the impact of the electrocatalysts in the water
electrolysis half-reactions. The experiment is implemented with damaged
hard drive (HD) platters as dimensionally stable electrodes for hydrogen
and oxygen evolution reactions. The CoPtCr and Ni−P alloys deposited on
the top of the platter are electrochemically stable in alkaline electrolyte and
have an excellent catalytic activity. Techniques and principles, such as linear
sweep voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, activation overpotential, and
voltage efficiency, are demonstrated by employing these platters as
electrodes.

KEYWORDS: Electrochemistry, Electrolytic/Galvanic Cells/Potentials, Catalysis, Oxidation/Reduction, Kinetics, Materials Science,

Interdisciplinary/Multidisciplinary, Demonstrations, Upper-Division Undergraduate, Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives

T here is a consensus that innovation in chemistry education

should approach the current challenge of Science in the
classroom.1,2 In this context, the production of hydrogen gas
cathode: 2H 2O + 2e− → H 2 + 2OH−
E◦ = −0.828 V vs NHE (2)
from water electrolysis has received enormous attention on the
actual global energetic scenery, as a sustainable route for energy anode: 2OH− → H 2O + 1 2 O2 + 2e−
storage.3−5 The direct impact of this technology on the society
can be a stimulus for undergraduate students to learn the E◦ = 0.401 V vs NHE (3)
fundamental concepts of this field.6 In general, many
introductory chemistry textbooks bring only a thermodynamic net reaction: H 2O → H 2O + 1 2 O2
aspect to electrochemistry.7−10 The best-known example is the E◦ = Ecathode
◦ ◦
− Eanode = −1.229 V (4)
nonspontaneous reaction of water splitting, where the standard
Gibbs free energy (ΔG°) in the overall reaction corresponds to In practical conditions, this electrochemical reaction is quite
237.2 kJ/mol. The standard reversible potential (E°) to drive difficult to perform at this standard potential.13 In fact, there is
this electrochemical reaction is −1.23 V, predicted by eq 1 always an additional potential associated with this process,
known as the overpotential.12,13 This additional potential
ΔGo comes from the experimental conditions, such as mass
Eo = −
nF (1) transport, electrical resistance, and kinetics of charge transfer
on the electrodes.11 The last one is also known as activation
where n is the number of electrons transferred per mole in the overpotential and is correlated with the mechanism of the
reaction and F is the Faraday constant.7 The energy provided to electrode reactions. This overpotential (η), given by eq 5, can
water splitting is stored in the chemical bonds of the hydrogen be determined from the difference between the applied
and oxygen molecules and is released in the spontaneous potential (Eap) and the standard potential (E°).13
reverse reaction. This energy can be converted into heat or
electromotive force (emf), for example, a fuel cell operating η = Eap − E o (5)
with hydrogen and oxygen gases.11 The water electrolysis in
alkaline solution can be better described by two half-reactions, Electrocatalysis has been the main strategy to decrease the
as shown in the chemical equations below. The hydroxide ions activation overpotential. The most efficient electrocatalysts are
(OH−) are oxidized at the anode, known as the oxygen expensive metals, such as iridium, ruthenium, and plati-
evolution reaction (OER), and water molecules are reduced at
the cathode, known as the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Received: July 18, 2017
The standard electrode potentials of these half-reactions are Revised: December 13, 2017
given in volts versus the normal hydrogen electrode (NHE).7,12
© XXXX American Chemical Society and
Division of Chemical Education, Inc. A DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00537
J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education Demonstration

Figure 1. Photograph of the two-compartment cell and HD platters as working electrodes for OER and HER.

num.14−16 Hence, heterogeneous electrocatalysts have achieved AgCl reference electrode, crocodile clips, electrical cables, a PV
broad technological, scientific, and also educational interest.17,18 panel (approximately 5 V, 2 A), and two rubber balloons were
Herein, damaged hard drive (HD) platters are employed to used.
demonstrate the efficient electrocatalysts for water splitting in The two-compartment electrochemical cell (EC) is built up
alkaline electrolyte. A single HD platter has a multilayer with two 925 mL hermetic plastic containers. Three electrodes
structure composed of CoPtCr alloy in the upper layer and Ni− are used in this cell, such as the working electrode (WE), the
P (nickel−phosphorus) alloy in the lower layer.19,20 The counter electrode (CE), and the reference electrode (RE). The
CoPtCr and Ni−P alloys have excellent activities for HER and electrochemical cell design, the current collector, and the
OER, respectively. reference electrode are detailed in the Supporting Information.
This demonstration has a multidisciplinary approach that An instructor or a technician should build up this electro-
correlates the computer hardware, materials chemistry, and chemical cell and carefully verify any gas and liquid leakage
electrochemistry. In the computer hardware, students may be before the classroom demonstration.

■
able to disassemble an HD and understand the electronic
architecture of this device. In materials chemistry, they can
learn the microstructural and chemical analysis of the magnetic HAZARDS
material deposited on the top of the platter. In the Sodium hydroxide is nontoxic but can cause severe burns if it
electrochemical context, fundamental topics and techniques comes into contact with skin and eyes. The lower flammability
can be demonstrated, such as linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), limit of hydrogen gas in the air is 4%.21 Fire and ignition source
chronopotentiometry, and the influence of heterogeneous must be kept away from this experiment to avoid an accidental
electrocatalysts on the voltage efficiency. The advantages of explosion. Gloves, lab coat, and goggles must be worn all time.
this experiment are the low cost, easy implementation and a Only dc power supply must be used.

■
great visual impact of the electrochemical apparatus. Figure 1
shows a photograph of a two-compartment electrolytic cell DISCUSSION
built with hermetic containers and HD platters as electrodes.
It is important to emphasize that the sustainable hydrogen In this demonstration, an HD is quickly disassembled to
gas production requires an inexhaustible energy source. The remove the platters (see Supporting Information). A brief
solar light energy is certainly promising for this purpose.3,14 description of this device can be mentioned to highlight the
Thus, the second part of this demonstration brings this insight impact of materials chemistry on the evolution of magnetic
into the classroom connecting a photovoltaic (PV) panel to the recording media. The metallic alloys deposited on the top of
electrolytic cell. the HD platters are the primary focus of this demonstration,

■ MATERIALS AND APPARATUS

Adjustable dc power supply (30 V, 5 A), two multimeters, four
and a particular discussion should be approached about them.
Thus, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was
performed to certify the alloy composition on these platters.
HD platters, a titanium foil (95 mm × 95 mm × ≈0.2 mm), This EDS analysis shows an atomic composition of 51.69%
four steel rods (100 mm long × 6 mm diameter), six cable cobalt, 40.44% chromium, and 7.87% platinum. This analysis
glands (PG7), and sodium hydroxide solution (1 M) were used. also indicates that the Ni−P alloy has a composition of 77% Ni
Two 925 mL hermetic containers with wide mouth and lid, Ag/ and 23% P.
B DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00537
J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education Demonstration

Figure 2. Electrochemical analyses of the HD platters: (a) LSV curves, (b) absolute current density vs overpotential, and (c) chronopotentiometry at
1.3 A for HER and OER.

Figure 3. Comparison of electrocatalytic activity for HER between the titanium disk and an HD platter. (a) LSV curves and (b) current−potential
curves for two-electrode cell configuration. HD platter (black line) and titanium disk (blue line).

The next stage of this demonstration is to carry out a series the instructor gradually adjusts the current between the WE
of electrochemical analyses using a potentiostat/galvanostat. and CE while monitoring the potential between the WE against
These analyses are performed with the Ag/AgClsat reference RE in the voltmeter display. The operating potential (Eop) is
electrode (197 mV vs NHE) and two HD platters, one as defined as the sum of the difference between the applied
cathode (CoPtCr alloy) with the other as anode (Ni−P alloy), potential for each half-reaction and the voltage drop, as given
under steady-state conditions. The electrochemical apparatus is by eq 6 (see additional figures in Supporting Information). The
set up according to the electrical wiring color code (see last term is associated with the electrical resistance of
Supporting Information). Figure 2a shows the LSV curves of electrolyte (Rs) and cell configuration.12 The low voltage
these HD platters for HER and OER displayed as current drop is achieved with a very close distance between the
density versus potential (V vs NHE). The two vertical blue electrodes (see Supporting Information).
dashed lines highlight the standard potential for half-reactions.
Eop = −1.23 + ηHER − ηOER + iR s (6)
Figure 2b shows an exponential growth of the absolute value of
the current density versus overpotential for HER and OER, To better evaluate the impact of the electrocatalysts, the
which is calculated by eq 2. In this clear demonstration, the voltage efficiency (ξ) is calculated by eq 7.12 The electrolytic
overpotential at 10 mA cm−2 was −84 and 364 mV for HER cell with two HD platters achieves a 61% efficiency, considering
and OER, respectively. The chronopotentiometry analysis at an operating potential of −2.01 V at −10 mA cm−2, as can be
1.3 A is shown in Figure 2c to emphasize the electrochemical seen in Figure 3b.
stability determined by a constant potential, considering an area
of 130 cm2 for each electrode immersed in the electrolyte. Eo
ξ= × 100
Therefore, a chronopotentiometry measurement can be Eop (7)
performed in a short time during a classroom demonstration.
Evidently, the electrochemical techniques are precisely Another possibility to visualize the influence of electro-
demonstrated with a potentiostat/galvanostat. Therefore, catalyst is replacing the HD platter cathode with a titanium disk
adjustable or regulated dc power supplies are low-cost with the same geometric area (see Supporting Information).
alternatives to set up this demonstration. The activation The cathodic LSV curve is obtained for the titanium disk and
overpotential and the operating potential at 10 mA cm−2 can compared with the HD platter LSV curve, as seen in Figure 3a.
be determined by an adjustable dc power supply. In this case, Note that one of these HD platters is preserved as anode due to
C DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00537
J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education Demonstration

Figure 4. Photograph of two-compartment cell coupled to the PV panel.

the electrochemical instability of the titanium disk for OER. In opportunity to expand their conceptual knowledge of
this comparative analysis, the student will see a difference in the fundamental electrochemistry.
onset of these LSV curves. In this case, the HER overpotential
was 540 mV at −10 mA cm−2 for the titanium disk. Figure 3b
shows the current−potential curves with a significant difference
■
*
ASSOCIATED CONTENT
S Supporting Information
in the operating potential for these electrodes. The voltage
efficiency is 51% for an electrolytic cell built up with a titanium The Supporting Information is available on the ACS
disk as a cathode and HD platter as an anode. This voltage Publications website at DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00537.
efficiency is a substantial aspect of studying the relevance of Detailed description for disassembly of an HD and
heterogeneous electrocatalysts for water electrolysis. fabrication of an electrochemical cell and reference
Students can be encouraged to estimate the cost of hydrogen electrode (PDF, DOCX)
gas production (cost/kg) using the power consumption Additional figures (PDF)
(operating potential × current), Faraday’s law of electrolysis,
Animated chart for HER for HD platter (AVI)
and electricity price (kWh). They can see the impact of
electrocatalyst efficiency in the cost of the hydrogen gas via Animated chart for OER for HD platter (AVI)
water electrolysis. Finally, the demonstration can be performed Animated chart for HER, comparison of HD platter and
with a PV panel to contrast with the cost of hydrogen gas Ti foil (AVI)

■
previously estimated. Figure 4 shows the photograph of this
electrolytic cell connected to a suitable PV panel. AUTHOR INFORMATION

■ CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the CoPtCr and Ni−P alloys deposited on the
Corresponding Author
*E-mail: [email protected].
HD platter are excellent catalysts to demonstrate many ORCID
fundamental concepts of electrochemical dynamics. The Ricardo H. Gonçalves: 0000-0002-0582-9059
activation overpotentials of the HD platters and the titanium Notes
disk as electrodes are significantly perceptible and are an
The author declares no competing financial interest.

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important aspect to explain the influence of heterogeneous
electrocatalyst for the HER and OER. In this sense, the concept
of a reversible process and kinetics of electrode reactions can be ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
discussed using this electrochemical demonstration. The The author is grateful to Amarilis G. de Moraes, Guilherme M.
versatility of this multidisciplinary demonstration allows Pereira, and Rafael Silva for the valuable suggestions and to the
students to observe an area of research for one of the current Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) for providing a
grand challenges in renewable energy while still providing an research fellowship.
D DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00537
J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education

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Demonstration

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E DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00537
J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX