The synergistic effect of catalysts on hydrogen desorption properties of MgH2–TiO2–NiO nanocomposite

Abstract

The high desorption temperature and slow desorption kinetics of MgH2 makes it less competitive for future mobile applications; using a catalyst accompanied by mechanical milling seems to be a good solution to overcome those problems. Therefore, the addition of TiO2 and NiO to MgH2 accompanied by 15 h of mechanical milling was considered in this study. The phase constituent and hydrogen desorption of the powder mixture were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a Sievert-type apparatus, respectively. XRD results showed that after milling, no binary or ternary compounds were formed, but hydrogen desorption time decreased and the desorbed hydrogen content increased. It seems that the increase in desorbed hydrogen was related to the simultaneous catalytic effect of TiO2 and NiO as well as mechanical milling. The results showed that the addition of both catalysts can improve the hydrogen desorption behavior of MgH2-based nanocomposite compared to the addition of only one catalyst of the same amount.