Effect of the nature of the starting material on the formation of Mg2FeH6

Abstract

The compound Mg2FeH6 was synthesized in a single process by reactive mechanical alloying (RMA) a 2MgH2+Fe mixture under hydrogen atmosphere at room temperature. The process yield is 15.6 wt.% of Mg2FeH6, after 100 h of milling. The synthesis of Mg2FeH6 takes almost twice the time and gives nearly half the yield obtained when milling a 2Mg+Fe mixture under similar conditions. The differences observed are explained in terms of the contrast between the mechanical properties and the microstructures of the starting mixtures.