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Title: Machine-learning and first-principles investigation of lightweight medium-entropy alloys for hydrogen-storage applications

Journal Article · · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy

The transition to a low-carbon economy demands efficient and sustainable energy-storage solutions, with hydrogen emerging as a promising clean-energy carrier and with metal hydrides recognized for their hydrogen-storage capacity. Here, we leverage machine learning (ML) to predict hydrogen-to-metal (H/M) ratios and solution energy by incorporating thermodynamic parameters and local lattice distortion (LLD) as key features. Our best-performing ML model provides improvements to H/M ratios and solution energies over a broad class of medium-entripy alloys (easily extendable to multi-principal-element alloys), such as Ti–Nb-X (X = Mo, Cr, Hf, Ta, V, Zr) and Co–Ni-X (X = Al, Mg, V). Ti–Nb–Mo alloys reveal compositional effects in H-storage behavior, in particular Ti, Nb, and V enhance H-storage capacity, while Mo reduces H/M and hydrogen weight percent by 40–50 %. We attributed results in molybdenum-rich alloys to slow hydrogen kinetics, as validated by our pressure-composition-temperature (PCT) isotherm experiments on pure Ti and Ti5Mo95 alloys. Density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations also confirm that Ti and Nb promote H diffusion, whereas Mo hinders it, highlighting the interplay between electronic structure, lattice distortions, and hydrogen uptake. Notably, our Gradient Boosting Regression model identifies LLD as a critical factor in H/M predictions. Here, to aid material selection, we present two periodic tables illustrating elemental effects on (a) H2 wt% and (b) solution energy, derived from ML, and provide a reference for identifying alloying elements that enhance hydrogen solubility and storage.

Research Organization:
Ames Laboratory (AMES), Ames, IA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division (MSE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; AC02-07CH11358
OSTI ID:
2573065
Journal Information:
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Journal Name: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy Vol. 154; ISSN 0360-3199
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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