Interaction of hydrogen with RECu2 and RE(Cu,Ni)2 intermetallic compounds (RE=Y, Pr, Dy, Ho)

Hydrogenation of RECu2 (RE=Dy, Ho, Y) at room temperature and pressures of 100–1500-bar H2 has not resulted in the formation of ternary hydrides. The interaction of hydrogen with Pr(Cu1−xNix)2 (x=0, 0.1, 0.17, 0.25, 0.32) at room temperature and pressure of 25 bar resulted in the formation of Pr(Cu1−xNix)2H∼3 hydrides. It was found that the PrCu2H3 and Pr(Cu0.9Ni0.1)2H2.9 hydrides are poorly crystallized, but that an increase of the Ni-content leads to improved crystallinity of the hydrides. The hydrides Pr(Cu0.75Ni0.25)2H∼3 and Pr(Cu0.68Ni0.32)2H∼3 preserve, shortly after the hydrogen absorption, the CeCu2 type structure of their metallic matrix with a hydrogen induced volume expansion up to 28% compared to the parent compound. During long-term exposure in the air they undergo a structural transformation from the orthorhombic CeCu2 to the hexagonal Fe2P type with a hydrogen induced volume expansion up to 16.6% compared to the parent compound.