A comparison study on aluminum-water reaction with different catalysts

Abstract

The aluminum-water reactions with various organic and inorganic catalysts have been investigated. The effect of catalyst on the rate and yield of hydrogen production and morphology and structure of Al(OH)3 product has been studied. The difference in reaction rate and hydrogen conversion efficacy is mainly ascribed to the ability to destroy alumina film and alkalinity of the catalyst solutions, and the hydrogen conversion efficiency of Al with tetramethylguanidine is the highest. The morphology and structure of the Al(OH)3 product are also characterized. The main phases of Al(OH)3 product prepared by these catalysts are Bayerite and Gibbsite. The morphologies and size distributions of Al(OH)3 products are different. The largest (D50, 64.0 µm) and smallest (D50, 20.8 µm) particle sizes of Al(OH)3 are prepared by the Al-H2O reactions with KOH and tetramethylguanidine, respectively. The role of catalyst in the Al-H2O reaction is discussed in detail.