Metal hydride-based composite materials with improved thermal conductivity and dimensional stability properties.

摘要

To address the issues of poor thermal conductivity and fragmentation of metal hydride particles undergoing hydriding/dehydriding reactions, a metal hydride-based composite material was developed. The active metal phase was embedded in a silica matrix and agraphite filler was incorporated by ball milling. A set of compact pellet samples at different composition were prepared and tested. Experimental data obtained from the thermal conductivity measurements shown that using powder graphite produced a quite linear increase in the thermal conductivity of the metal hydride -silica composite. Ongoing studies include composition optimization as well as long-term testing upon cycling of such metal hydride composites to evaluate their potentiality in technological hydrogen storage applications.