Study on the effect of carbon materials with different morphologies on the hydrogen generation performance of aluminum: A strategy to control the hydrogen generation rate of aluminum

Activated aluminum composites have received widespread attention because they can generate hydrogen by reacting with water at room temperature quickly and easily. Regulating the hydrogen generation rate of activated aluminum composites is urgent, and it is a challenging task for the application of activated aluminum composites in industrial hydrogen generation. Herein, three types of carbon materials with different morphologies are used to prepare three corresponding activated aluminum composites by ball milling. Their hydrogen generation rate and hydrogen generation volume are studied in detail. The results show that the activated aluminum composites prepared by adding graphene sheet materials with a two-dimensional planar structure have faster hydrogen generation rate than the activated aluminum composites prepared by adding cellulose with a one-dimensional linear structure and spherical carbon materials with a three-dimensional spherical structure. By observing the microscopic morphology of the activated aluminum composite and the collected quenched intermediate hydrolysis products, the regulation mechanism of different carbon materials on the water reaction rate of the activated aluminum composites is analyzed. In addition, the application of activated aluminum composite Al-7.5Bi-2.5GS in rapid gas generation is also simulated, and the results show that composite Al-7.5Bi-2.5GS has the potential to be used in rapid water rescue devices. [Display omitted] •Three types of carbon materials are used to prepare activated aluminum composites.•Graphene sheet with 2D structure can promote the hydrogen generation of Al.•Al-7.5Bi-2.5GS can be used in the field of rapid gas production.