Mg2FeH6 synthesized from plain steel and magnesium hydride

Mg2FeH6 was successfully synthesized using magnesium hydride and plain hypoeutectoid steels (with different carbon contents) as precursors. Mixtures of magnesium hydride (MgH2) and steels were milled in a planetary ball mill under argon and subsequently sintered under hydrogen pressure at 450 degrees C. It was shown that steel can be successfully used as a reaction substrate to obtain results similar to those obtained with pure iron. The developed method shows that magnesium iron hydride can be industrially manufactured at high yields using steel scrap, which can lower the cost of the manufacturing process. However, the reaction mixture must be mechanically milled more intensively because steel has better mechanical properties than iron; if it is not milled well, it does not readily react with magnesium hydride due to long diffusion distance. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.