Method of manufacturing hydrogen generating apparatus

Abstract

A method of manufacturing a hydrogen generating apparatus, the method including: forming an absorbent layer, the absorbent layer configured to absorb an aqueous solution; depositing a metal membrane over either side of the absorbent layer such that the absorbent layer is interposed between the metal membranes; and forming a support layer over one side of one of the metal membranes, the support layer configured to transport hydrogen generated by a reaction between the aqueous solution and the metal membrane.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of manufacturing a hydrogen generating apparatus, the method comprising:
 forming an absorbent layer, the absorbent layer configured to absorb an aqueous solution;   depositing a metal membrane over either side of the absorbent layer such that the absorbent layer is interposed between the metal membranes; and   forming a support layer over one side of one of the metal membranes, the support layer configured to transport hydrogen generated by a reaction between the aqueous solution and the metal membrane.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the absorbent layer is made of an absorbent polymer material. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the absorbent polymer material is polyimide. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the metal membrane is deposited by a thin film deposition method. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the thin film deposition method includes at least one selected from a group consisting of sputtering, evaporation, chemical plating, electroplating, and atomic layer deposition (ALD). 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the support layer comprises at least one of carbon cloth and carbon paper. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising, after the forming of the support layer:
 forming the absorbent layer, the metal membranes, and the support layer into a roll