Tailoring the activation behaviour and oxide resistant properties of TiFe alloys by doping with Mn

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.08.041
• Publication Date: 2021-08-24T06:34:59Z
• Authors: Subhasis Pati; Swapneel Trimbake; Manvendra Vashistha; Pratibha Sharma
• Keywords: 01 natural sciences; 0105 earth and related environmental sciences

Abstract Ti–Fe alloy is the most investigated material for H2 storage, however, the poor activation kinetics and surface oxide formation limits its practical application. Herein, Mn substituted Ti–Fe alloys are investigated for hydrogen storage application and the effect of air exposure on their performance is evaluated. The alloys were synthesized using arc melting method and characterized for structure, composition and morphology analysis. The XRD analysis confirmed the partial substitution of Fe by Mn in the TiFe1-xMnx alloys. The activation kinetics of the alloys are improved by Mn substitution, and the rate of reaction increased with Mn concentration. The desorption PCIs showed a distinct but dual plateau for the low Mn content and the slope of plateau increased with Mn content. The surface oxide layer formation upon air exposure was analysed by XPS technique. The combined XRD and XPS results illustrated a thin surface oxide layer formation. It was also observed that Mn acts as a sacrificial element to prevent the bulk oxidation of alloys. The overall study depicts synergetic effect of Mn addition on hydrogen absorption kinetics of TiFe1-xMnx alloys.