Metallic Glass Films with Nanostructured Periodic Density Fluctuations Supported on Si/SiO(2)as an Efficient Hydrogen Sorber

Abstract

Nanostructured metallic glass films (NMGF) can exhibit surface and intrinsic effects that give rise to unique physical and chemical properties. Here, a facile synthesis and electrochemical, structural, and morphologic characterization of Pd-Au-Si based MGs of approximately 50 nm thickness supported on Si/SiO(2)is reported. Impressively, the maximum total hydrogen charge stored in the Pd-Au-Si nanofilm is equal to that in polycrystalline Pd films with 1 mu m thickness in 0.1 mH(2)SO(4)electrolyte. The same NMGF has a volumetric desorption charge that is more than eight times and 25 % higher than that of polycrystalline PdNF and Pd-Cu-Si NMGF with the same thickness supported on Si/SiO2, respectively. A significant number of nanovoids originating from PdH(x)crystals, and an increase in the average interatomic spacing is detected in Pd-Au-Si NMGF by high-resolution TEM. Such a high amount of hydrogen sorption is linked to the unique density fluctuations without any chemical segregation exclusively observed for this NMGF.