Hydrogen Absorption of Nanoscale Pd Particles Embedded in ZrO2 Matrix Prepared from Zr–Pd Amorphous Alloys

Abstract

Nanocomposite materials consisting of ZrO2 and Pd phases were prepared by heating the amorphous Zr65Pd35 alloy for 24 h at 553 K in air. The maximum hydrogen absorption amount is about 2.4 mass% (H2/Pd) at 323 K and 2.2 mass% (H2/Pd) at 423 K at hydrogen pressure of 1 MPa. The absorption amount of Pd nanoparticles in the nanocomposite is a few times larger than those for the bulk and powder Pd metals. The remarkable increase in the hydrogen absorption/desorption amounts seems to result from the isolated dispersion state of Pd nanoparticles in the ZrO2 phase containing a tremendously large interface area in the nanocomposite.