Hydrogen absorption and desorption properties of Pd/Mg/Pd tri-layers prepared by magnetron sputtering

In this present work, a study on hydrogen absorption and desorption properties of Pd/Mg/Pd tri-layers, prepared by DC/RF magnetron sputtering has been conducted using XRD, FE-SEM and AFM. Hydrogenation of as-deposited Pd/Mg/Pd tri-layers was carried out at (50–150 °C) temperatures in a fixed amount of hydrogen gas (100,000 Pa). Hydrogen content in as-deposited and hydrogenated tri-layers have been estimated by Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis (ERDA) technique with 120 MeV 107Ag+ 9 ions. The XRD study supported by ERDA data reveals the absorption of hydrogen in hydrogenated Pd/Mg/Pd tri-layers. The hydrogen desorption from Pd/Mg/Pd tri-layers is enhanced by “cooperative effect” caused by elastic interaction within interfacial region of Pd and Mg films. The maximum hydrogen absorption (8.4 × 1017 H atoms/cm2) has been observed at 125 °C among all samples studied. Low desorption temperature (80 °C) has been observed for Pd/Mg/Pd tri-layers.