Study on the liquid phase-derived activation mechanism in Al-rich alloy hydrolysis reaction for hydrogen production

Bulk Al-Ga-In-Sn alloys are potential on-demand hydrogen generation materials, and Ga, In, and Sn with fascinating liquid characteristics manifest extraordinary activation capabilities in an Al-H2O reaction for hydrogen production. In the present work, the hydrogen production performances of Al-rich alloys were explored and the corresponding activation mechanism was investigated. The actual composition of the grain boundary (GB) phase in each alloy was determined by the Ga-In-Sn ternary phase diagram. A significant morphological transformation in the grain boundary particles (GBPs) was observed. Based on the surface tension of GBPs, the "Marangoni effect " was used to explain the hydrogen release rates of different alloys during hydrolysis. In addition, a liquid phase-derived activation mechanism during Al hydrolysis was proposed. The as-cast Al-Ga-In-Sn alloys were also used as energy carriers, and the power-consuming load was successfully supplied through the on-demand hydrogen supply mode, verifying the feasibility of liquid phase-activated Al-rich alloys in hydrogen energy applications. (C)& nbsp;2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.