Magnesium hydride (MgH2) is a hydrogen-rich compound generating significant amounts of hydrogen in the process of hydrolysis, i.e., in the course of its chemical interaction with water or with aqueous solutions. This process is of great interest for the on-site hydrogen generation aimed at application of H2 as a fuel for PEM fuel cells. We propose a review of recent reference publications in the field and also present the results of our own research. The increase of the rates of H2 release and the completeness of transformation of MgH2 are two important goals, which can be attained by optimizing the size of the powders of MgH2 by ball milling, by using catalysts added to MgH2 and to aqueous solutions, and by increasing the interaction temperature. The effect of these parameters on the degree of conversion and the rates of hydrogen evolution are analyzed in detail and the best systems to reach the efficient hydrolysis performance are identified. The mechanism of catalytic hydrolysis is proposed, while further improvements of the process of hydrolysis are required and additional studies of this important topic are needed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
J.-P. Tessier, P. Palau, J. Huot, R. Schulz, and D. Guaya, “Hydrogen production and crystal structure of ball-milled MgH2 –Ca and MgH2 –CaH2 mixtures,” J. Alloys Comp., 376, 180–185 (2004).
Y. Kojima, K.-I. Suzuki, and Y. Kawai, “Hydrogen generation by hydrolysis reaction of magnesium hydride,” J. Mat. Sci., 39, 2227–2229 (2004).
M.-H. Grosjean, M. Zidoune, and L. Roué, “Hydrogen production from highly corroding Mg-based materials elaborated by ball milling,” J. Alloys Comp., 404, 712–715 (2005).
M.-H. Grosjean, M. Zidoune, L. Roué, and J.-Y. Huot , “Hydrogen production via hydrolysis reaction from ball-milled Mg-based materials,” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 31, 109–119 (2006).
M.-H. Grosjean and L. Roué, “Hydrolysis of Mg–salt and MgH2 –salt mixtures prepared by ball milling for hydrogen production,” J. Alloys Comp., 416, 296–302 (2006).
V. D. Makhaev, L. A. Petrova, and B. P. Tarasov, “Hydrolysis of magnesium hydride in the presence of ammonium salts,” Rus. J. Inorg. Chem., 53, No. 6, 858–860 (2008).
R. V. Lukashev, N. A. Yakovleva, S. N. Klyamkin, and B. P. Tarasov, “Effect of mechanical activation on the reaction of magnesium hydride with water,” Rus. J. Inorg. Chem., 53, No. 3, 343–349 (2008).
H. Uesugi, T. Sugiyama, I. Nakatsugawa, and T. Ito, “Production of hydrogen storage material MgH2 and its application,” J. Jap. Inst. Light Met., 60, No. 11, 615–618 (2010).
S. D. Kushch, N. S. Kuyunko, R. S. Nazarov, and B. P. Tarasov, “Hydrogen-generating compositions based on magnesium,” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 36, 1321–1325 (2011).
Y. Xiao, C. Wu, H. Wu, and Y. Chen, “Hydrogen generation by CaH2-induced hydrolysis of Mg17Al12 hydride,” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 36, 15698–15703 (2011).
T. Hiraki, S. Hiroi, T. Akashi, N. Okinaka, and T. Akiyama, “Chemical equilibrium analysis for hydrolysis of magnesium hydride to generate hydrogen,” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 37, 12114–12119 (2012).
Z. Zhao, Y. Zhu, and L. Li, “Efficient catalysis by MgCl2 in hydrogen generation via hydrolysis of Mg-based hydride prepared by hydriding combustion synthesis,” Chem. Comm., 48, 5509–5511 (2012).
C.-H. Chao and T.-C. Jen, “Reaction of magnesium hydride with water to produce hydrogen,” Applied Mech. Mat., 302, 151–157 (2013).
T. Tayeh, A.S. Awad, M. Nakhl, M. Zakhour, J.-F. Silvain, and J.-L. Bobet, “Production of hydrogen from magnesium hydrides hydrolysis,” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 39, 3109–3117 (2014).
L. Ouyang, M. Ma, M. Huang, R. Duan, H. Wang, L. Sun, and M. Zhu, “Enhanced hydrogen generation properties of MgH2 –based hydrides by breaking the magnesium hydroxide passivation layer,” Energies, 8, 4237–4252 (2015).
M. Huang, L. Ouyang, H. Wang, J. Liu, and M. Zhu, “Hydrogen generation by hydrolysis of MgH2 and enhanced kinetics performance of ammonium chloride introducing,” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 40, 6145–6150 (2015).
H. Zhong, H. Wang, J. W. Liu, D. L. Sun, F. Fang, Q. A. Zhang, L. Z. Ouyang, and M. Zhu, “Enhanced hydrolysis properties and energy efficiency of MgH2 -base hydrides,” J. Alloys Comp., 680, 419–426 (2016).
M. Tegel, S. Schöne, B. Kieback, and L. Röntzsch, “An efficient hydrolysis of MgH2 -based materials,” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 42, 2167–2176 (2017).
M. Ma, L. Ouyang, J. Liu, H. Wang, H. Shao, and M. Zhu, “Air-stable hydrogen generation materials and enhanced hydrolysis performance of MgH2 –LiNH2 composites,” J. Power Sources, 359, 427–434 (2017).
S. Li, D. Gan, Y. Zhu, Y. Liu, G. Zhang, and L. Li, “Influence of chloride salts on hydrogen generation via hydrolysis of MgH2 prepared by hydriding combustion synthesis and mechanical milling,” Trans. Nonferrous Met. Soc. China, 27, 562–568 (2017).
J. A. Adeniran, E. T. Akinlabi, H.-S. Chen, R. Fono-Tamo, and T.-C. Jen, “Organic acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of magnesium hydride for generation of hydrogen in a batch system hydrogen reactor,” in: Proc. of the World Congr. on Engineering and Computer Science (October 25–27, 2017, San Francisco, USA), Vol. II, WCECS 2017, October 25–27, San Francisco, USA (2017).
D. Gan, Y. Liu, J. Zhang, Y. Zhang, C. Cao, Y. Zhu, and L. Li, “Kinetic performance of hydrogen generation enhanced by AlCl3 via hydrolysis of MgH2 prepared by hydriding combustion synthesis,” Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 43, 10232–10239 (2018).
V. V. Berezovets, Yu. V. Verbovytskyy, І. Yu. Zavaliy, and V. A. Yartys, "Mg-based materials for application in hydrogen supply systems,” in: Proc. of the HighMatTech.–2019 Conf. (October 28–30, 2019, Kyiv, Ukraine) Kyiv, Ukraine (2019).
Acknowledgements
The present work was financially supported by the NATO SPS Program (Project G5233 “Portable Energy Supply”).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Published in Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 56, No. 1, pp. 9–20, January–February, 2020.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Verbovytskyy, Y.V., Berezovets, V.V., Kytsya, A.R. et al. Hydrogen Generation by the Hydrolysis of MgH2. Mater Sci 56, 1–14 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11003-020-00390-5
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11003-020-00390-5