Influence of element substitution on structural stability and hydrogen storage performance: A theoretical and experimental study on TiCr2-xMnx alloy

AB2-type alloys have been widely used for metal hydride hydrogen compressors and hydrogen storage systems. The crystal structure and hydrogen storage properties mostly rely on their composition and atomic distribution. Thus, revealing the relationship between structure and properties can lead to the design of alloys with optimized properties for hydrogen storage application. Here, the structure stability, bonding energy, thermodynamic and kinetic properties of TiCr2-xMnx (x = 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1) alloy/hydride have been firstly investigated by combining density functional theory calculation and experiment. It demonstrates that Mn-doped TiCr2 alloy has a stable C14 phase, and Mn can optionally substitute for Cr sites. Additionally, with increase of Mn content, the desorption plateau increases and the ΔH value decreases. In particular, the ΔH values of TiCr2-xMnx hydrides are consistent with the heat released when H atoms occupy the interstitial interstices. Finally, the hydrogen absorption kinetics simulation shows that Mn is unfavorable to the hydrogen absorption kinetics, in which TiCrMn is 124 s longer than TiCr2 when 90% hydrogen-absorption capacity is reached. The relationship between calculations and experiments presents here can be used as a reference for subsequent screening of alloying elements with high melting point and cost for metal hydride system.