Preparation of Al–Bi–NaCl composites and evaluation of their hydrogen production performance

Herein, we prepared Al–Bi–NaCl composites by mechanical ball milling and investigated the effects of ball milling time on their hydrogen production performance, additionally analyzing energy conversion during ball milling. Subsequently, the effects of Bi and NaCl content and initial temperature on hydrogen production performance were studied. Moreover, the phase, morphology, and elemental composition of these composites and by-products of their hydrolysis were studied by a range of instrumental techniques. An optimal hydrogen yield of 1140 ml g−1 (in 1 h) was obtained at a milling time of 4 h, and the results of instrumental characterization showed that no new phase was formed during ball milling (i.e., Al, Bi, and NaCl were only mechanically mixed) and that the constituent elements were evenly distributed in the composite. Hydrolysis by-products were identified as porous Al(OH)3 and AlO(OH), that is, Bi did not participate in the reaction.