Improvement in hydrogen storage performance of Mg by mechanical grinding with molten salt etching Ti3C2Clx

Abstract

Mg-based materials are currently a hot research topic as hydrogen storage materials due to their considerable theoretical hydrogen storage capacity. However, the kinetic performance of hydrogen absorption and desorption of Mg is too slow and requires high temperature, which seriously hinders the application of this material. MXene is a new type of two-dimensional material with significant role in improving thermodynamics and kinetics. In this experiment, a two-dimensional layered MXene containing Cl functional group was prepared by molten salt etching using the Ti-containing MAX phase as the raw material. Then different ratios of Ti3C2Clx were uniformly dispersed onto the surface of Mg by high energy ball milling. The samples were characterized by hydrogen absorption and desorption kinetics, SEM, XRD, XPS, and DSC to investigate the effect of Ti3C2Clx on the hydrogen absorption and desorption performance of Mg. The onset hydrogen absorption temperature can be reduced to room temperature and the hydrogen release temperature is reduced by 200 ​°C by doping Ti3C2Clx. And there is also 5.4 ​wt% hydrogen storage in the isothermal hydrogen absorption test at 400 ​°C. The results of DSC demonstrate that the Ea of Mg+15 ​wt% Ti3C2Clx was reduced by 12.6% compared to pristine Mg. The ΔH is almost invariable. The results of XPS show that the presence of multivalent Ti promotes electron transfer and thus improves the conversion between Mg2+/Mg and H−/H. This study provides a guideline for further improving the hydrogen absorption and desorption performance of Mg-based hydrogen storage materials.