Hydrogen storage properties of aluminum hydrides prepared by mechanochemical ball milling method
Hydrogen has attracted considerable attention as a promising fuel, but hydrogen storage and transportation systems are very difficult to handle because hydrogen is the lightest material on earth. Although the compression or liquefaction of hydrogen represents a feasible method for hydrogen storage, a number of problems remain to be solved from the standpoint of safety and energy efficiency. Thus, developing an efficient system for hydrogen storage based on solid state materials would be a challenging work for the successful realization of a hydrogen economy society. In this work, aluminum hydrides were prepared by a mechanochemical ball milling method using Mg, Ca chloride and Na, Li aluminum hydride in the absence of any solvents. The crystal structures and hydrogen evolution performance of prepared samples were then examined. Titanium-doped aluminum hydrides were also prepared with an aim of investigating the effect of titanium addition on the hydrogen evolution performance of aluminum hydrides. It was revealed that about 6wt.% of hydrogen was evolved by the thermal decomposition of Mg aluminum hydride. Also, hydrogen evolution of Ca and Li-Mg aluminum hydride was shown about 5wt.% and about 4wt.% respectively. The addition of a small amount of titanium had a significant effect on the hydrogen evolution performance of aluminum hydrides that titanium-doped aluminum hydrides showed a lower starting temperature of hydrogen evolution and had a better performance of hydrogen restoration properties after hydrogen evolution. Therefore, the titanium doped aluminum hydrides will be promising material for the purpose of on-board hydrogen storage system.