Hydrogen Sorption Property of Zr<SUB>55</SUB>V<SUB>29</SUB>Fe<SUB>16</SUB> Nanopowder Synthesized by the Plasma Arc Discharge Process

Abstract

The present study focused on the synthesis of a Zr-V-Fe-based nanopowder for investigating the possibility of synthesizing zirconiumbased alloyed getter nanoparticles by the plasma arc discharge process. The chamber pressure and the mixing ratio of hydrogen:argon in the powder synthesis atmosphere were changed. The chemical composition, phase structure, particle size and hydrogen sorption property of the synthesized powders were analyzed using XRF, XRD, TEM, XPS and the ASTM-F798 method. The synthesized Zr-V-Fe-based powders have a different chemical composition than the raw material, Zr 57 V 36 Fe 7 . The chemical composition of the synthesized Zr-V-Fe-based powders approached that of the raw material with an increasing hydrogen fraction in the powder synthesis atmosphere. The synthesized Zr 55 V 29 Fe 16 powder has a mixed phase structure of the Zr, ZrH 2 , FeV and Zr(V 1-x Fe x ) 2 phases. This powder has an average particle size of about 20 nm. The Zr 55 V 29 Fe 16 nanopowder synthesized by the plasma arc discharge process showed getter characteristics, even though it had a lower hydrogen sorption speed than the Zr 57 V 36 Fe 7 getter powder synthesized by the conventional hydride-dehydride method.

Nanostructured Metal Hydrides for Hydrogen Storage

“…Addition of TiF 3 to MgH 2 NPs synthesized through the HPMR method showed a beneficial effect on kinetics and hydrogen absorption capacity at low temperatures but was found to have no effect on H 2 desorption . Other nanostructured metal hydrides synthesized using the HPMR method include Zr 55 V 29 Fe 16 H x , Mg 2 NiH 4 , − Mg 2 CoH 5 , Mg 2 FeH 6 , Mg 2 CuH x , TiFeH x , Mg–Al–H, Mg–Zn–H, and several Mg–La-TM-H (TM = Ti, Fe, and Ni) nanocomposites.…”