Hydrogen absorption mechanism and location in intermetallic compounds

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to acquaint the reader with the new field of ternary hydrides and to expose him to its relevance to modern energy technology. Studying their fundamental properties is one fascinating aspect in view of their novel and unusual nature. The methods of hyperfine interactions have an important role to play in their microscopic understanding, as we have illustrated through a few examples. The absorption mechanism of hydrogen has been shown to be closely related to the nature of surface overlayers and their catalytic activity. Similar measurements will be of importance also in many of the other catalytic reactions used in industry. The microscopic nature of hyperfine interaction tools also helps in determining the hydrogen site occupancy. In addition, such methods can in principle yield dynamic information which are useful in investigating relevant properties such as diffusion rates of hydrogen.