Alloying Mg alloy waste with pure Ni via melting at 850 °C: An efficient and inexpensive strategy to fabricate bulk Mg-based hydrogen generation materials

Mg is recognized as a potential material for on-site hydrogen production due to its high capacity for hydrogen generation and cost-effectiveness. Aiming at exploring bulk Mg-based hydrogen generation material with fast hydrolysis kinetics and high conversion rate based on Mg alloy waste, AZ91D-Ni alloys with different Ni contents are prepared via melting in a resistance furnace at similar to 850 degrees C in this work, using AZ91D alloy waste and pure Ni as raw materials. The phase constituent, microstructure and hydrogen generation performance of as-cast AZ91D-Ni alloys have been investigated. AlNi phase with cuboid shape is found in as-cast AZ91D-Ni alloys, which significantly promotes the hydrolysis performance of Mg. The primary Mg crystals are rapidly corroded by artificial seawater within the first 20 s at 20 degrees C, with AlNi phase accelerating the corrosion process and leading to the formation of numerous cracks. AZ91D-8Ni alloy can be completely hydrolyzed within similar to 620 min at 50 degrees C, generating similar to 748.3 mL g(- 1) H-2. This work introduces an innovative method to the production of cost-effective bulk Mg-based materials with excellent hydrolysis kinetics and melting of high melting point metals at lower temperatures.