Formation of Titanium Hydride from the Reaction between Magnesium Hydride and Titanium Tetrachloride

Abstract

The reaction between magnesium hydride (MgH2) and titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) to produce titanium hydride (TiH2) was carried out at varying temperature, time and Argon (Ar) gas flow rate. The reaction conditions were optimized for increasing the formation of TiH2 by using the statistical design of experiments (DOE). The hydriding temperature was varied from 200 to 300 °C, while the reaction time was changed from 60 to 180 minutes. The flow rate of argon gas was controlled in the range of 20 to 60 mL.min-1 to minimize TiCl4 dilution. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), Elemental hydrogen analyzer. From the experiments, the highest weight change (Xw) of the sample produced at 300 °C for 180 minutes with Ar flow rate of 20 mL.min-1 was 0.19 wt.% and the degree of hydriding (Xh) of 38.49% by elemental hydrogen analysis. The DOE analysis inferred that the reaction time was the most significant factor followed by the flow rate of Ar gas and reaction temperature. The SEM/EDX analysis indicated that the product was composed of MgH2, MgCl2, TiCl2.3 and TiH2.The product contained a minor phase of TiO2 that could be due to seepage of ambient moisture into the reaction chamber.