Investigation of hydrogen embrittlement of Sn–Al alloy during contact with water vapour

Hydrogen generation through rolling using Al–Sn alloy

“…The alternately arranged grains (layers), one with lower and the other with higher Al The Sn/Al phase boundary has a higher energy than the energy of the grain boundary of Sn and Al taken separately [2], which indicates that the bonds of Sn with Al have low energy. Thus, broken contact sites and Sn/Al interface free bonds always exist in the alloys [3]. These broken contacts (or free bonds) usually have high activity.…”

“…5b), which mainly include aluminium hydroxide [Al(OH) 3 ] and a small amount of Sn. On the other hand, the grey layer dilatants and floccules are composed of Sn with or without some Al(OH) 3 . As a whole, none of the Sn-related compounds is found in the reaction system regardless of the kinds of products involved.…”

“…The white deposits are composed of micrometer-or submicrometer-scale particles (Fig. 5b), which mainly include aluminium hydroxide [Al(OH) 3 ] and a small amount of Sn. On the other hand, the grey layer dilatants and floccules are composed of Sn with or without some Al(OH) 3 .…”

“…AleSn can be used for hydrogen storage when controlled hydrogen emissions are needed [3]. However, the emission rate is very slow that it cannot be used as a reliable hydrogen-generating material.…”

“…The addition of alloying metals to Al forms alloys (such as AleSn, AleGa, AleIn, AlePb, and so on) that can directly react with water at room temperature; these alloys have yielded higher reactivity than pure Al metal [2e7]. However, the slow general reaction rate [2,3] and the high cost of expansive indium and gallium metals [4,6] restrict the wide-scale use of this method. Alternatively, micro-or nano-sized Al powders with high specific surface area can be applied because they can react rapidly and completely with water to release hydrogen [8].…”