Hydrothermic Reduction of Rutile-Ilmenite Mineral Producing an Oxyhydride η-Ti2FeO0.2H2.8: Towards In-Situ Hydrogen Production and Storage
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Date
2024-03
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NIGERIAN JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
Abstract
ABSTRACT: As an alternative to the physical storage of hydrogen as compressed gas or liquid hydrogen requiring
high-pressure tanks and cryogenic temperatures, the material-based storage of hydrogen in solids involves hydrogen
uptake and release from the surface of adsorbents or within interstitials of hydrides. We report a hydrothermic
reduction of rutile-ilmenite mineral into hydrogen-rich fibrous products, η-Ti2FeO0.2H2.8, in an ethanol-water system
at 120°C for 4 hrs. As part of a project to generate hydrogen from water-ethanol system using advanced catalysts
containing graphene oxide (GO) as carbon source, a system of 62.5 μg graphene oxide per g of rutile-ilmenite mineral
was employed in a concentration of 50 mg/mL of ethanol-water solution. As well as in the original mineral, XRD of
thermal annealed mineral between 500 and 800°C showed no hydride or phase change in rutile-ilmenite. With
hydrothermal treatment of GO/rutile-ilmenite (50 mg/mL) in ethanol-water (1:1 v/v) at 120°C, a hydrogen-rich
ferrotitanium hydride phase was formed, and there was a change in morphology from plate-like and granular particles
into fibrous structures. Like the release of hydrogen by its ‘carriers’ (e.g., CaH2, NH4BH4, NaBH4, NH3, formic acid),
it is anticipated that hydrogen was generated from the ethanol-water system in-situ, which reduced the rutile-ilmenite
mineral into a hydride. EDX results showed that the reduction affected specifically the oxides of Fe and
aluminosilicates in the mineral. The study demonstrated a possibility of in-situ hydrogen generation and storage via
low-temperature graphene oxide hydrothermic reduction of rutile-ilmenite mineral in an ethanol-water system.
KEYWORDS: Hydrogen, hydrothermic, ethanol-water, rutile-ilmenite, graphene oxide
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Hydrogen, hydrothermic, ethanol-water, rutile-ilmenite, graphene oxide