Published on Web 09/27/2005
Hydrogen Cycling of Niobium and Vanadium Catalyzed Nanostructured Magnesium H. Gijs Schimmel,† Jacques Huot,‡ Laurent C. Chapon,§ Frans D. Tichelaar,| and Fokko M. Mulder*,† Contribution from the Department of Radiation, Radionuclides and Reactors, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Delft UniVersity of Technology, Mekelweg 15, 2629JB Delft, The Netherlands, the Institut de recherche sur l’hydroge` ne, UniVersite´ du Que´ bec a` Trois-RiVie` res, (Qc)G9A 5H7 Canada, the ISIS facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, United Kingdom, and the National Centre for HREM, Delft UniVersity of Technology, The Netherlands Received March 9, 2005; E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract: The reaction of hydrogen gas with magnesium metal, which is important for hydrogen storage purposes, is enhanced significantly by the addition of catalysts such as Nb and V and by using nanostructured powders. In situ neutron diffraction on MgNb0.05 and MgV0.05 powders give a detailed insight on the magnesium and catalyst phases that exist during the various stages of hydrogen cycling. During the early stage of hydriding (and deuteriding), a MgH1
