The Pd catalyst effect on low temperature hydrogen desorption from hydrided ultrathin Mg nanoblades

Magnesium Nanoparticles With Pd Decoration for Hydrogen Storage

In this work, Magnesium nanoparticles with Pd decoration, ranging from 40 to 70 nm, were successfully coprecipitated from tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution, assigned as the Mg–Pd nanocomposite. The Mg–Pd nanocomposite exhibits superior hydrogen storage properties. For the hydrogenated Mg–Pd nanocomposite at 150°C, the onset dehydrogenation temperature is significantly reduced to 216.8°C, with a lower apparent activation energy for dehydrogenation of 93.8 kJ/mol H₂. High-content γ-MgH₂ formed during the hydrogenation process, along with PH_0.706, contributes to the enhancing of desorption kinetics. The Mg–Pd nanocomposite can take up 3.0 wt% hydrogen in 2 h at a temperature as low as 50°C. During lower hydrogenation temperatures, Pd can dissociate hydrogen and create a hydrogen diffusion pathway for the Mg nanoparticles, leading to the decrease of the hydrogenation apparent activation energy (44.3 kJ/mol H₂). In addition, the Mg–Pd alloy formed during the hydrogenation/dehydrogenation process can play an active role in the reversible metal hydride transformation, destabilizing the MgH₂.

An investigation of gaseous hydrogen storage characterizations of Mg–Y–Ni–Cu alloys synthesized by melt spinning

Melt spinning was successfully utilized to prepare Mg_25−xY_xNi₉Cu (x = 0, 1, 3, 5, 7) alloys, producing nanocrystalline and amorphous structures with improved hydrogenation and dehydrogenation performances. The influence of spinning rate on hydrogenation and dehydrogenation thermodynamics and kinetics was studied in detail. XRD and TEM were utilized to characterize the alloy structures. Hydrogenation and dehydrogenation performances were investigated by Sievert apparatus, DSC and TGA connected to a H₂ detector. Dehydrogenation activation energies were estimated using both Arrhenius and Kissinger methods. Results show that melt spinning significantly decreases thermodynamic parameters (ΔH and ΔS) and ameliorates desorption kinetics. Dehydrogenation activation energy markedly lowers with increase in spinning rate and is the real driver of amelioration of dehydrogenation kinetics caused by increasing Y content.

Melt spinning enables the crystalline alloy to be strongly disordered and nanostructured, thus enhancing the hydrogen storage kinetics of Mg_25−xY_xNi₉Cu.

Air stability of low-temperature dehydrogenation of Pd-decorated Mg blades

We demonstrated that Pd-decorated Mg blades are air-stable for hydrogen storage with a low desorption temperature of 373 K. Pd-catalyst-decorated Mg blades were prepared by 64° oblique incident angle thermal deposition on a rotatable substrate with the rotation axis perpendicular to the substrate. The hydrogen desorption from Pd-decorated Mg blades was performed and recorded by temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) for repeated hydrogenation–dehydrogenation cycles. The near-surface structural and compositional changes were characterized in situ by reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED). The Mg blades were intentionally exposed to air at elevated temperatures (333 or 358 K) between certain cycles. It was found that the degradation of the storage capacity was affected weakly by the air exposure at moderate temperatures. The kinetics of the hydrogen desorption was sensitive to air exposure but recoverable through a replenishment of fresh catalyst Pd on the surface of the oxidized Mg blades.

Hydrogen electrosorption into Pd-Cd nanostructures

Hydrogen-absorbing materials are crucial for both the purification and storage of hydrogen. Pd and Pd-based alloys have been studied extensively for their use as both hydrogen dissociation catalysts and hydrogen selective membrane materials. It is known that incorporating metal atoms of different sizes into the Pd lattice has a major impact on the hydrogen absorption process. In this paper, hydrogen electrosorption into nanostructured Pd-Cd alloys has been studied for different compositions of Cd that varied from 0 to 15 at. %. The low cost of Cd makes it an attractive material to combine with Pd for hydrogen sorption. A combination of chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetric experiments was used to determine the ratio of the H/(Pd + Cd) and the kinetics of hydrogen sorption into these Pd-Cd alloys at different potentials. It was found that the maximum H/(Pd + Cd) value was 0.66 for pure Pd, and this decreased with increasing the amount of Cd. Also, the alpha (solid solution) to beta phase (metal hydride) hydrogen transition was determined to be the slowest step in the absorption process and was practically eliminated when an optimum amount of Cd atoms was doped (i.e., Pd-Cd(15%)). With increasing the amount of Cd, more hydrogen was absorbed into the Pd-Cd nanostructures at the higher potentials (the alpha phase region). The faster kinetics, along with the decrease in the phase transition of hydrogen sorption into the Pd-Cd nanostructures when compared to pure Pd, makes the Pd-Cd nanostructures attractive for use as a hydrogen dissociation catalytic capping layer for other metal hydrides or as a hydrogen selective membrane.