Abstract
Al–Bi–Sn–Cu composite powders for hydrogen generation were designed from the calculated phase diagram and prepared by the gas atomization process. The morphologies and structures of the composite powders were investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, and the results indicate that the Cu additive enhanced the phase separation between the Al-rich phase and the (Bi, Sn)-rich phase. The hydrogen generation performances were investigated by reacting the materials with distilled water. The Al–Bi–Sn–Cu powders reveal a stable hydrogen generation rate, and the Al–10Bi–7Sn–3Cu (wt%) powder exhibits the best hydrogen generation performance in 50 °C distilled water which reaches 856 mL/g in 800 min. In addition, the antioxidation properties of the powders were also studied. The Al–10Bi–7Sn–3Cu (wt%) powder has a good resistance to oxidation and moisture, which shows great potential for being the hydrogen source for fuel cell applications.
Highlights
In the era of a shortage of fossil fuels, hydrogen has been extensively regarded as a future energy source due to its cleanness, high energy, and abundance
The results suggest that alloys located in the compositions of liquid–liquid phase separation would form powders with two liquid phases coexisting under the rapid solidification process of gas atomization
The activated ternary Al–Bi–Sn and quaternary Al–Bi–Sn–Cu composite powders were prepared via the gas atomization method
Summary
In the era of a shortage of fossil fuels, hydrogen has been extensively regarded as a future energy source due to its cleanness, high energy, and abundance. Current hydrogen generation methods including steam reforming of ethanol [7] and water electrolysis [8] are extensively utilized to produce hydrogen to satisfy the industrial requirements. There are some drawbacks to these methods, such as environmental pollution, low conversion and high cost. These methods are not convenient for on-board hydrogen generation, which is the key issue to ensure the future hydrogen economy. Hydrogen generation through the hydrolysis of metals which have a high electrochemical activity, e.g., Al [9], Mg [10], Na [11], and Zn [12], is gradually rising to realize the on-board hydrogen generation. Yavor et al [13] studied hydrogen production by using hydrolysis on sixteen different metal powders, wherein Al, Mg and
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