We have successfully generated hydrogen using aluminum foil instead of aluminum powder from the perspective of improving safety. We analyzed the surface states of three aluminum foils and correlated their surface properties with hydrogen generation capability. The surfaces of the foils were analyzed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. Hydrogen generation was performed by adding Ca(OH)2 solution to the aluminum foil in water. The TOF-SIMS results showed that the Al foils have Al2O3-, AlO2-, (OH)2AlO-, (Al2O3)OH-, and (Al2O3)AlO2- and related species on their surfaces. The amount of these species on the surface of an Al foil is linearly correlated with the hydrogen generation reaction rate.
Nagashima K, Visbal H, Kanehira S, Saeki T, Chinzaka R, Shimizu M, Nishi M, Hirao K, to be submitted.
Shimizu K, Phanopoulos C, Loenders R, Abel M, Watts J, Surf. Interface Anal., 42, 1432, 2010
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