Hydrogen Uptake Enhancement by the Use of a Magnesium Hydride and Carbon Nanotubes Mixture

Studies show that the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) serve as hydrogen diffusion channels, when used with magnesium hydride. The hydrogen sorption study, of a MgH2 and 5wt% of multiwalled carbon nanotubes mixture, was the main purpose of this work. The samples were analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and also studied in a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The carbon nanotubes, that were ball milled during 20 min to the MgH2, were observed in the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The mixture of MgH2-CNT turned out to enhance the hydrogen sorption when compared to pure MgH2 and in 5 min it desorbed around 5 wt% of hydrogen, at 350oC and 0.1 bar.