A comprehensive investigation of structural, morphological, hydrogen absorption and magnetic properties of MmNi4.22Co0.48Mn0.15Al0.15 alloy

Abstract

A comprehensive study of structural, morphological, hydrogen absorption and magnetic properties of MmNi 4.22 Co 0.48 Mn 0.15 Al 0.15 alloy as a promising hydrogen storage media was investigated. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) profiles show that the alloy maintains its crystal structure (hexagonal LaNi 5-type) even after 30 hydrogenation/dehydrogenation (H/D) cycles. However, the XRD peaks are found to be slightly broadened after cycling. SEM images reveal that particles size of the cycled sample decreases, with more uniform particle size distribution compared to noncycled ones. The pressure-composition (PC) isotherms and kinetics curves of hydrogen absorption reaction were obtained at different working temperatures by using a homemade Sievert apparatus. The enthalpy and entropy of hydride formation of the alloy were evaluated. Furthermore, the Jander diffusion and Johnson–Mehl–Avrami models as the fitting models were employed to study the kinetic mechanism of hydriding reaction and its activation energy. The room temperature magnetic measurements indicate that the milling and H/D cycling change the magnetic properties of the as-annealed alloy.