The development of hydrogen energy will help to reduce the use of nonrenewable energy sources and achieve global carbon neutrality. The aluminum-water reaction is an important method of producing hydrogen because aluminum has abundant reserves, a high yield, and no pollution. However, the dense passive oxide film on the surface of aluminum, on the other hand, often obstructs this reaction, which is the primary issue limiting the development of aluminum-based hydrolytic materials. Mechanochemical activation by processing severely plastic deformed aluminum-based materials is one effective approach and has been developed in recent years. This article reviews recent progress of hydrogen production from hydrolysis of severely plastic deformed aluminum-based materials. The kinetic model of aluminum-water reaction, aging protection of the materials, catalytic mechanism and stable rate control for the hydrolysis of aluminum-based materials are reviewed. Furthermore, some existing problems as well as some suggestions for future research on hydrogen production from aluminum-based materials are also discussed.

One of the hottest research topics at present is the construction of environmentally friendly and secure aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) using an aqueous electrolyte instead of an organic electrolyte. As a result of their diverse structure, valence state, high theoretical specific capacity, and other benefits, vanadium-based materials, which are frequently employed as the cathode of AZIBs, have drawn the attention of many researchers. The low cycle stability of zinc ion batteries (ZIBs) is mostly caused by the disintegration of the vanadium-based cathode materials during continuous charge and discharge. In this work, using 3M Zn(CF3SO3)2 as the electrolyte and hydrothermally synthesized Ag2V4O11 as the cathode material, the high-rate performance and extended cycle life of ZIBs were evaluated. The effects of different hydrothermal temperatures on the microstructure, capacity, and cycle stability of the Ag2V4O11 cathode material were examined. The experimental results show that Ag2V4O11 exhibits a typical intercalation-displacement process when used as the cathode material. The multiplicative performance and cycle stability of the cathode material were significantly enhanced at a hydrothermal temperature of 180 °C. Ag2V4O11-180 has a high discharge specific capacity of 251.5 mAh·g−1 at a current density of 0.5 A·g−1 and a long cycle life (117.6 mAh·g−1 after 1000 cycles at a current density of 3 A·g−1). According to the electrochemical kinetic investigation, the cathode material has a high pseudocapacitive charge storage and Zn2+ diffusion coefficient. This is attributed to the large layer spacing and the Ag+ anchored interlayer structure.