Activation and Disproportionation of Zr₂Fe Alloy as Hydrogen Storage Material

As a hydrogen storage material, Zr₂Fe alloy has many advantages such as fast hydrogen absorption speed, high tritium recovery efficiency, strong anti-pulverization ability, and difficulty self-igniting in air. Zr₂Fe alloy has lower hydrogen absorption pressure at room temperature than LaNi₅ alloy. Compared with the ZrVFe alloy, the hydrogen release temperature of Zr₂Fe is lower so that the material can recover hydrogen isotopes at lower hydrogen concentration efficiently. Unfortunately, the main problem of Zr₂Fe alloy in application is that a disproportionation reaction is easy to occur after hydrogen absorption at high temperature. At present, there is little research on the generation and influencing factors of a disproportionation reaction in Zr₂Fe alloy. In this paper, the effects of temperature and hydrogen pressure on the disproportionation of Zr₂Fe alloy were studied systematically. The specific activation conditions and experimental parameters for reducing alloy disproportionation are given, which provide a reference for the specific application of Zr₂Fe alloy.