No abstract

AlD3 AlD3 was synthesized by ball milling of 3LiAlD4 + AlCl3. Planetary ball milling at room temperature resulted in a mixture of AlD3 (alpha and alpha') and Al in addition to LiCl, whereas cryomilling at 77 K resulted in only AlD3 and LiCl. The AlD3 obtained was a mixture of about 2/3alpha and 1/3alpha'. Alpha' was determined by powder neutron diffraction to take the beta-AlF3 structure with space group Cmcm and a = 6.470(3), b = 11.117(5), and c = 6.562(2) A. It is built up of corner-sharing AlD6 octahedra in an open structure with hexagonal holes of radius 3.9 A. Alpha' slowly decomposes during storage at 40 degrees C. Alpha-AlD3 is also described by a corner-sharing AlD6 network but in a more dense ReO3-type arrangement. Both AlD3 modifications have slightly shorter Al-D distances compared to Na3AlD6, Na2LiAlD6, and K2NaAlH6.

NaAlH4 samples with Ti additives (TiCl3, TiF3, and Ti(OBu)4) have been investigated by synchrotron X-ray diffraction in order to unveil the nature of Ti. No crystalline Ti-containing phases were observed after ball milling of NaAlH4 with the additives, neither as a solid solution in NaAlH4 nor as secondary phases. However, after cycling, a high-angle shoulder of Al is observed in the same position with 10% TiCl3 as that with 2% Ti(OBu)4, but with considerably higher intensity, indicating that the shoulder is caused by Ti. After prolonged reabsorption, there is only a small fraction of free Al phase left to react with Na3AlH6, whereas the shoulder caused by Al(1-y)Ti(y) is dominating. The Ti-containing phase causing the shoulder therefore contains less Ti than Al3Ti, and the aluminum in this phase is too strongly bound to react with Na3AlH6 to form NaAlH4. The composition of the Al(1-y)Ti(y) phase is estimated from quantitative phase analysis of powder X-ray diffraction data to be Al(0.85)Ti(0.15). Formation of this phase may explain the reduction of capacity beyond the theoretical reduction from the dead weight of the additive and the reaction between the additive and NaAlH4.