The phase structure and hydrogen storage properties of LaMg 3.70 Ni 1.18 alloy were investigated. The LaMg 3.70 Ni 1.18 alloy consists of main LaMg 2 Ni phase, minor La 2 Mg 17 and LaMg 3 phases. The alloy can be activated in the first hydriding/dehydriding process, and initial LaMg 2 Ni, La 2 Mg 17 , and LaMg 3 phases transfer to LaH 2.34 , Mg, and Mg 2 Ni phases after activation. The reversible hydrogen storage capacity of the LaMg 3.70 Ni 1.18 alloy is 2.47 wt.% at 558 K, which is higher than that of the LaMg 2 Ni alloy. The pressure-composition-temperature （PCT） curves display two hydriding plateaus, corresponding to the formation of MgH 2 and Mg 2 NiH 4 . However, only one dehydriding plateau is observed, owing to the synergetic effect of hydrogen desorption between MgH 2 and Mg 2 NiH 4 . The uptake time for hydrogen content to reach 99% of saturated state is less than 250 s, and 90% hydrogen can be released in 1200 s in the experimental conditions, showing fast kinetics in hydriding and dehydriding. The activation energies of the LaMg 3.70 Ni 1.18 alloy are –51.5 ± 1.1 kJ/mol and –57.0 ± 0.6 kJ/mol for hydriding and dehydriding, respectively. The hydriding/dehydriding kinetics of the LaMg 3.70 Ni 1.18 alloy is better than that of the Mg 2 Ni alloy, owing to the lower activation energy values.
LI JinhuaLIU BaozhongHAN ShuminHU LinZHAO XinWANG Mingzhi
LaFeO3 was used to improve the hydrogen storage properties of Mg H2. The Mg H2＋20 wt.%La Fe O3 composite was prepared by ball milling method. The composite could absorb 3.417 wt.% of hydrogen within 21 min at 423 K while Mg H2 only uptaked 0.977 wt.% hydrogen under the same conditions. The composite also released 3.894 wt.% of hydrogen at 623 K, which was almost twice more than Mg H2. The TPD measurement showed that the onset dissociation temperature of the composite was 570 K, 80 K lower than the Mg H2. Based on the Kissinger plot analysis of the composite, the activation energy E des was estimated to be 86.69 k J/mol, which was 36 k J/mol lower than Mg H2. The XRD and SEM results demonstrated that highly dispersed La Fe O3 could be presented in Mg H2, benefiting the reduction of particle size and also acting as an inhibitor to keep the particles from clustering during the ball-milled process.
A composite of LiBH4-Mg2NiH4 doped with 10wt% CEH2.29 was prepared by ball milling followed by dynamic interspace vac- uum treatment at 573 K. The introduction of CEH2.29 caused a transformation in the morphology of Mg from complex spongy and lamellar to uniformly spongy, resulting in refined particle size and abundant H diffusion pathways. This LiBH4-Mg2NiH4 ＋ 10wt% CEH2.29 composite exhibited excellent hydrogen storage properties. The starting temperature of rapid H absorption decreased to 375 K in the doped composite from 452 K for the unmodified material, and the onset decomposition temperature of its hydride was reduced from 536 K to 517 K. In addi- tion, the time required for a hydrogen release of 1.5wt% （at 598 K） was 87 s less than that of the un-doped composite.
