Using hydrogenography, we investigate the thermodynamic parameters and hysteresis behavior in Mg thin films capped by Ta/Pd, in a temperature range from 333 K to 545 K. The enthalpy and entropy of hydride decomposition, ∆H des = −78.3 kJ/molH 2 , ∆S des = −136.1 J/K molH 2 , estimated from the Van't Hoff analysis, are in good agreement with bulk results, while the absorption thermodynamics, ∆H abs = −61.6 kJ/molH 2 , ∆S abs = −110.9 J/K molH 2 , appear to be substantially affected by the clamping of the film to the substrate. The clamping is negligible at high temperatures, T > 523 K, while at lower temperatures, T < 393 K, it is considerable. The hysteresis at room temperature in Mg/Ta/Pd films increases by a factor of 16 as compared to MgH 2 bulk. The hysteresis increases even further in Mg/Pd films, most likely due to the formation of a Mg-Pd alloy at the Mg/Pd interface. The stress-strain analysis of the Mg/Ta/Pd films at 300-333 K proves that the increase of the hysteresis occurs due to additional mechanical work during the (de-)hydrogenation cycle. With a proper temperature correction, our stress-strain analysis quantitatively and qualitatively explains the hysteresis behavior in thin films, as compared to bulk, over the whole temperature range.
OPEN ACCESSCrystals 2012, 2 711