Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR)

Gas atomization is an industrial powder production process in which a stream of molten alloy is disintegrated by high-pressure gas jets into fine droplets that rapidly solidify into spherical particles, producing powders with very fine and often homogeneous microstructures.[2] In this research, gas atomization is used to synthesize the Ti0.488Fe0.460Mn0.052 TiFe-based alloy powder, enabling control over particle size, cooling rate, and microstructural refinement to tailor hydrogen storage properties.[1][2]

TiFe-based intermetallic hydrides are a class of AB-type alloys where titanium and iron form a host lattice that can reversibly absorb hydrogen to form TiFeH2-type hydrides, offering moderate hydrogen capacity and favorable operating conditions for storage technologies.[2] They are interstitial hydrides in which hydrogen occupies tetrahedral or octahedral lattice sites, and their performance is sensitive to alloying additions (such as Mn and Zr), microstructure, and surface oxidation state.[2]

Mechanical activation refers to the use of processes like cold rolling, ball milling, and cold pressing to modify the microstructure and surface state of metal hydride alloys to improve their first hydrogenation behavior after air exposure.[1][2] In the Ti0.488Fe0.460Mn0.052 study, all three methods allowed hydrogen absorption by breaking passive oxide layers and introducing defects, with cold pressing delivering the highest hydrogen capacity and ball milling the fastest kinetics, while cold rolling offered effective regeneration with relatively simple processing.[1]

Trois-Rivières, Quebec

An academic–industrial research project between UQTR and GKN Hoeganaes investigating the microstructure, first hydrogenation behavior, activation energy, and mechanical activation routes for a gas-atomized Ti0.488Fe0.460Mn0.052 hydrogen storage alloy.