Hydrogen absorption and desorption in rapidly solidified Mg- Al alloys

The addition of Al to Mg has been indicated as a suitable way to destabilise the hydride phase, in order to bring the absorption and desorption reactions close to reasonable temperatures and pressure values for hydrogen storage. Rapid solidification is known to refine the microstructure of Mg-Al alloys and it might improve the H2 absorption/desorption kinetics. In this paper, the interaction of H2 with rapidly solidified Mg-Al alloys have been studied for three different composition: Mg38.5Al61.5, Mg69Al31 and Mg72Al28. For Mg72Al28, no significant changes in the microstructure have been obtained by rapid solidification. In Mg69Al31, a significant grain refinement has been observed, whereas, for Mg38.5Al61.5, the formation of a metastable hexagonal phase has been found. In all cases, a disproportionation reaction has been observed after H2 absorption, leading to MgH2. After heating up to 430 deg. C the hydrogenated samples, a main desorption reaction from MgH2 has been observed, which brings again to the starting phases. Experimental results have been discussed on the basis of a thermodynamic assessment of the Mg-Al-H system.