Thermally unstable hydrides of titanium aluminide [Ti.sub.3]Al

The hydrogen capacity of [(Ti, Nb).sub.3]Al titanium aluminides subjected to mechanical activation in a hydrogen atmosphere has been studied. It has been shown that the application of this procedure allows one to prepare thermally unstable titanium aluminide ([Ti.sub.3]Al) hydrides with a high hydrogen content (to 2.6 wt %) at room temperature and normal pressure; in this case, no special requirements for the hydrogen purity are placed. The thermally unstable nanostructured [Ti.sub.3]Al hydrides were found to exhibit a higher hydrogen mobility as compared to that of the microcrystalline hydrides. Low niobium additions (to 2.1 at %) have been found to decrease the hydrogen capacity. Experiments on the preparation of bulk samples from the hydride powders obtained were performed. Keywords: Ti-Al-Nb alloys, mechanical activation in a hydrogen atmosphere, hydrogen capacity, phase composition, nanostructure, nuclear magnetic resonance, compaction of hydride powders DOI: 10.1134/S0031918X11030069