The role of milling time on the absorption behaviour of MgH2 catalyzed by Fe

Metal hydrides are of great interest as hydrogen storage media especially for automotive application. Hydrides of magnesium and magnesium alloys are particularly attractive as they combine potentially high hydrogen storage capacities, 7.6 wt%. But, unfortunately, the sorption properties are poor. For example, conventional hydrogenation of magnesium requires prolonged treatment at temperatures of 300 degrees C and above. Here, we report the absorption properties of MgH2 catalyzed with a small amount of Fe element (1wt%) under argon atmosphere prepared by ball milling in 80 hours. As the results, it showed the influence of milling time on the absortion kinetics of material which could absorp hydrogen in amount 5.5 within 20 minutes at 300 degrees C. It is obvious that longer milling time and small amount of catalyst could improve the sorption properties of Mg-based hydrides). (C) 2009 BCREC. All rights reserved.