Preparation of al-3ga-3in-3sn alloy powder by coupling alloying and ball milling and its application on high-rate hydrogen generation at room temperature

High hydro-active Al-3Ga-3In-3Sn alloys were prepared by coupling alloying and mechanical milling methods. NiCl₂ was added to the alloy during ball milling as the catalyst. XRD, SEM, and XAFS were used for the characterization of the hydro-active alloy. The hydrogen generation properties were systematically investigated in tap water at room temperature. The results show that the hydrogen generation rate is 11.02 L·min^−1·g−1, and the conversion yield is 90.25% for the Al-3Ga-3In-3Sn-2NiCl₂ composite with a ball milling time of 2 h at room temperature in tap water. The hydrolysis reaction contains the expansion of the Al-based phase into a nano-sized layer and the further hydrolysis reaction of the layered Al phase with water. The activation mechanism was also investigated, and the activation of Al was attributed to the Al-Ni galvanic with the existing Cl⁻, which leads to a faster hydrolysis reaction rate for ball-milled powder with NiCl₂ .