Mg-based compounds for hydrogen and energy storage

Magnesium-based alloys attract significant interest as cost-efficient hydrogen storage materials allowing the combination of high gravimetric storage capacity of hydrogen with fast rates of hydrogen uptake and release and pronounced destabilization of the metal-hydrogen bonding in comparison with binary Mg-H systems. In this review, various groups of magnesium compounds are considered, including (1) RE-Mg-Ni hydrides (RE = La, Pr, Nd); (2) Mg alloys with p-elements (X = Si, Ge, Sn, and Al); and (3) magnesium alloys with d-elements (Ti, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pd). The hydrogenation- disproportionation-desorption-recombination process in the Mg-based alloys (LaMg12, LaMg11Ni) and unusually high-pressure hydrides synthesized at pressures exceeding 100 MPa (MgNi2H3) and stabilized by Ni-H bonding are also discussed. The paper reviews interrelations between the properties of the Mg-based hydrides and p-T conditions of the metal-hydrogen interactions, chemical composition of the initial alloys, their crystal structures, and microstructural state.