Synergic effects of ion irradiations (La, Ce) and alkaline pretreatment (KOH) on hydriding kinetic property of a Mm–Ni based alloy

Abstract

Abstract The ion beam irradiation is known to produce a high density of vacancy type defects in the surface region of a metal and found to be an effective method as a surface modification in order to enhance the hydriding rate of a metal. In this study, we examined synergic effects of both surface modifications of ion irradiations and alkaline treatment on the initial hydriding rate of a Mm–Ni based alloy. In this study, the irradiations by lanthanum (La) and cerium (Ce) ions combined with an alkaline KOH pretreatment were found much more effective in the enhancement of the initial hydriding rate compared with irradiations with other ions. This study reports the synergic effects of the surface modifications by the both the surface irradiations with rare earth ions of La and Ce, and an alkaline surface treatment on the hydriding kinetics.