CuAl₂ Intermetallic Hydrogen Evaluation after Mechanical Activation of Powders

Abstract

Water vapor in the air affects aluminum based intermetallic compounds to form hydrogen. We take advantage of this fact to explore the amount of hydrogen obtained from CuAl2 intermetallic after its mechanical attrition activation. For this propose, CuAl2 intermetallic alloy was first produced by conventional casting methods and then subjected to mechanical milling processing. After the mechanical activation of the CuAl2 powders, a chemical reaction between them and water was carried out at room temperature including additives such as CaO, Al and NaCl. The amount of hydrogen release was correlated with other phases produced after the chemical reaction. X-ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscopy studies indicates that these phases were aluminum hydroxides and cupper oxides. According to these studies, a significant presence of oxide and hydroxide products occurred in the samples with NaCl additions, indicating best capability for hydrogen generation.