Carbon nano-tube coated with iron carbide catalysis for hydrolysis of magnesium to generate hydrogen

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2024-09, Vol.83, p.1359-1369
• Main Authors: Qin, Fei, bei, Lin, Naseem, Kashif, Chen, Zhanjun, Suo, Guoquan, Tahir, Adnan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ball milling; Catalyst; CNT@Fe3C; Hydrogen generation; Hydrolysis
• ISSN: 0360-3199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2024.08.187

Hydrolysis of magnesium (Mg) or their composites are considered as an efficient, economical and enabling technique to produce hydrogen (H2). In this study, carbon nano-tube coated with iron carbide (CNT@Fe3C) was synthesized and applied as a catalyst to promote hydrolysis of Mg to generate H2. Ball milling technique was employed to prepare Mg-Xwt%CNT@Fe3C (X = 0.2, 2.0, 5.0 and 10.0) composites for hydrolysis in seawater. Among employed composites, the results demonstrated that the introduction of small amount of CNT@Fe3C promote the hydrolysis kinetics of Mg. Particularly, Mg-5.0 wt%CNT@Fe3C composite ball milled for 1 h released 866.5 mL/g H2 with 10072.0 mLg−1min−1 initial hydrogen generation rate mHGR and demonstrated an excellent composite. Furthermore, activation energy of Mg hydrolysis kinetic dropped to 23.6 kJ/mol. Hence, CNT@Fe3C inhibited the magnesium hydroxide (Mg(OH)2) from sticking to the unreacted Mg surfaces, which enhanced its galvanic corrosion and reactivity. In order to develop portable H2 generators, CNT@Fe3C supported Mg system can provide clean H2 to reduce the adverse environmental effect. [Display omitted] •CNT@Fe3C promote the hydrolysis kinetics of magnesium (Mg).•Effect of ball milling on the hydrolysis performance of Mg-CNT@Fe3C composite.•Formation of cracks and micro galvanic cell promoted the hydrolysis kinetics.•The CNT@Fe3C coupled Mg has potential use in large-scale hydrogen production.