title: Hydrogen generation from water using Mg nanopowder produced by arc plasma method.
abstract: We report that hydrogen gas can be easily produced from water at room temperature using a Mg nanopowder (30-1000 nm particles, average diameter 265 nm). The Mg nanopowder was produced by dc arc melting of a Mg ingot in a chamber with mixed-gas atmosphere (20% N2-80% Ar) at 0.1 MPa using custom-built nanopowder production equipment. The Mg nanopowder was passivated with a gas mixture of 1% O2in Ar for 12 h in the final step of the synthesis, after which the nanopowder could be safely handled in ambient air. The nanopowder vigorously reacted with water at room temperature, producing 110 ml of hydrogen gas per 1 g of powder in 600 s. This amount corresponds to 11% of the hydrogen that could be generated by the stoichiometric reaction between Mg and water. Mg(OH)2flakes formed on the surface of the Mg particles as a result of this reaction. They easily peeled off, and the generation of hydrogen continued until all the Mg was consumed.
authors.affiliation: Materials Processing Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uda
authors.affiliation: Materials Processing Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okuyama
authors.affiliation: Materials Processing Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Tohru S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.affiliation: Materials Processing Unit, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0047, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakka
keywords: arc plasma; hydrogen generation; magnesium; nanopowder; nanopowder production equipment