Feasibility study of hydrogen production for micro fuel cell from activated Al–In mixture in water

A safe and environmental-friendly method of hydrogen production from milled Al–In–Zn–salt mixture in water was proposed in this paper. The 10 h—milled Al–In–Zn–salt mixture had high reactivity and produced hydrogen in water at room temperature. Its improved reactivity came from that the additive Zn and salts facilitate to the negative shift of Al–In alloy and benefited the combination of Al, In and Zn in the milling process. Optimized the composition content, 1 g of 10 h—milled Al—5 wt%In—3 wt%Zn—2 wt%NaCl mixture had highest hydrogen yield of 1035 mL hydrogen/1 g Al in 4 min of hydrolysis reaction in water, corresponding to 9.21 wt% hydrogen (excluding water mass). Hydrogen supplying from milled Al–In–Zn–salt mixture was performed for micro fuel cell and 0.96 W was produced with the stable hydrogen supply rate. Therefore, the milled Al–In–Zn–salt mixture could be a feasible alternative for providing a source of CO2 free hydrogen production to supply micro fuel cell.