Metallic glassy Zr(70)Ni(20)Pd(10) powders for improving the hydrogenation/dehydrogenation behavior of MgH(2)

Because of its low density, storage of hydrogen in the gaseous and liquids states possess technical and economic challenges. One practical solution for utilizing hydrogen in vehicles with proton-exchange fuel cells membranes is storing hydrogen in metal hydrides. Magnesium hydride (MgH(2)) remains the best hydrogen storage material due to its high hydrogen capacity and low cost of production. Due to its high activation energy and poor hydrogen sorption/desorption kinetics at moderate temperatures, the pure form of MgH(2) is usually mechanically treated by high-energy ball mills and catalyzed with different types of catalysts. These steps are necessary for destabilizing MgH(2) to enhance its kinetics behaviors. In the present work, we used a small mole fractions (5 wt.%) of metallic glassy of Zr(70)Ni(20)Pd(10) powders as a new enhancement agent to improve its hydrogenation/dehydrogenation behaviors of MgH(2). This short-range ordered material led to lower the decomposition temperature of MgH(2) and its activation energy by about 121 °C and 51 kJ/mol, respectively. Complete hydrogenation/dehydrogenation processes were successfully achieved to charge/discharge about 6 wt.%H(2) at 100 °C/200 °C within 1.18 min/3.8 min, respectively. In addition, this new nanocomposite system shows high performance of achieving continuous 100 hydrogen charging/discharging cycles without degradation.