Solid-solution MAX phase TiVAlC assisted with impurity for enhancing hydrogen storage performance of magnesium hydride

Although MXene catalysts etched from precursor MAX have greatly improved the hydrogen storage performance of magnesium hydride (MgH₂), the use of dangerous and polluting etchers (such as hydrofluoric acid) and the direct removal of potentially catalytically active A-layer substances (such as Al) present certain limitations. Here, solid-solution MAX phase TiVAlC catalyst without etching treatment has been directly introduced into MgH₂ system to improve the hydrogen storage performance. The optimal MgH₂-10 wt% TiVAlC can release about 6.00 wt% hydrogen at 300 °C within 378 s and absorb about 4.82 wt% hydrogen at 175 °C within 900 s. After 50 isothermal hydrogen ab/desorption cycles, the excellent cyclic stability and capacity retention (6.4 wt%, 99.6%) can be found for MgH₂-10 wt% TiVAlC. The superb catalytic activity of TiVAlC catalyst can be explained by abundant electron transfer at external interfaces with MgH₂/Mg, which can be further enhanced by impurity phase Ti₃AlC₂ due to strong H affinity brought from abundant electron transfer at internal interfaces (Ti₃AlC₂/TiVAlC). The influence of impurity phase which is common in MAX phase on the overall activity of catalysts has been firstly studied here, providing a unique method for designing composite catalyst to improve hydrogen storage performance of MgH₂.