Desorption of hydrogen from Ti–Zr–Ni hydrides using a mass spectrometer

We have performed thermogravimetry (TG) and mass-spectrometry measurements of hydrogen desorbed from fully and partially hydrided ternary Ti–Zr–Ni amorphous, quasicrystalline and crystalline alloys, with four different initial compositions, where the Ti/Zr ratio ranged from 1 to 2.4. The icosahedral, quasicrystalline Ti–Zr–Ni samples were obtained using the melt-spinning technique, and with subsequent annealing of these ribbons at 700 °C for 2 h in vacuum we were able to obtain a mixture of crystalline C14 Laves and α/β solid-solution phases. In addition, using subsequent mechanical alloying we produced amorphous powders of Ti–Zr–Ni from the as-spun ribbons. These various samples were then hydrided and analyzed by TG and mass spectrometry. The TG measurements provided us with the mass% of desorbed hydrogen, whereas the mass-spectrometry revealed information about the hydrogen desorption temperatures in the material. Despite the fact that the amorphous and icosahedral samples undergo some crystallization during the desorption measurements, the resulting mass spectra were different and were closely related to the alloy's structure. In contrast, the shapes of mass spectra were less affected by the composition, the total amount of desorbed hydrogen and the loading pressure.