Hydriding and dehydriding kinetics of nanocrystalline and amorphous Mg20Ni6M4 (M=Cu, Co) alloys

It was well known that the Mg2Ni-type alloy with a nanocrystalline/amorphous structure possesses superior hydrogen storage kinetics. In order to obtain a nanocrystalline and amorphous structure, the melt spinning was applied to prepare the Mg2Ni-type Mg20Ni6M4(M=Cu, Co) hydrogen storage alloys. The microstructures of the as-cast and spun alloys were characterized by XRD, SEM and HRTEM. The gaseous hydriding and dehydriding kinetics of the alloys was measured. The results show that the as-spun (M=Co) alloys display a nanocrystalline and amorphous structure as spinning rate approaches to 20 m/s, while the as-spun (M=Cu) alloys hold an entire nanocrystalline structure whatever spinning rate is, suggesting that the substitution of Co for Ni facilitates the glass formation in the Mg2Ni-type alloy. The melt spinning markedly improves the gaseous hydrogen storage kinetics of the alloys. As the spinning rate grows from 0 (as-cast was defined as the spinning rate of 0 m/s) to 30 m/s, the hydrogen absorption saturation ratio (R-5(a)) is enhanced from 57.7% to 91.4% for the (M=Cu) alloy and from 77.1% to 93.5% for the (M=Co) alloy. And hydrogen desorption ratio (R-20(d)) is raised from 28.7% to 59.0% for the (M=Cu) alloy and from 54.5% to 70.2% for the (M=Co) alloy, respectively.