Enhanced joint catalysis of YH2/Y2O3 on dehydrogenation of MgH2

This work presents the in-situ preparation of YH2/Y2O3 nanocomposite and its catalytic effect on the dehydrogenation of MgH2. The YH2 was formed by the hydrogenation of original Mg93Y7 alloy powder, the in-situ formed YH2 particles of ca. 50 nm were highly dispersed on the surface of MgH2 particles. The Y2O3 was obtained due to accident oxidization of alloy in the kinetic measurement. Compared with the YH2 catalyzed MgH2, the YH2/Y2O3 catalyzed MgH2 showed better hydrogen storage kinetic properties, especially the dehydrogenation rate was dramatically increased by 3 times. This result demonstrates the feasibility of massive production of efficient composite catalysts for the Mg-base hydrogen storage alloys by controllable hydrogenation and oxidization treatment.