Hydrogenation of Mg film and Mg nanoblade array on Ti coated Si substrates

The hydrogenation of Mg film and Mg nanoblade array fabricated on Ti coated Si substrates has been studied and compared. The nanoblades start to absorb hydrogen at a temperature between 250 and 300°C, which is much lower than 350°C for Mg film. However, the saturated total hydrogen uptake in nanoblades is less than half of that in the film, resulting from MgO formation by air exposure. The nanoblade morphology with large surface area and small hydrogen diffusion length, and the catalytic effect of Ti layer, are two main reasons for the nanoblade hydrogenation behavior.