Influence of LiH and Ti metal additives on milling LiAlH4 compound

Adding LiAlH4with Ti-metal as a catalyst and ball-milling in argon atmosphere for 5 and 35 hours results in solid-state transformation of tetrahedral LiAlH4 into octahedral Li3AlH6 and the transformation is investigated using XRD, FT-IR and the thermal stability of the compounds after milling is measured by thermogravimetric analysis. XRD data reveals partial transformation of LiAlH4 into Li3AlH6 after 5 hours of milling. After 35 hours almost complete transformation occurs.The data obtained from FT-IR spectra approve the XRD results. The thermal stability of the compounds is significantly affected by increasing temperature over 100°C. Mechanical milling of LiAlH4 with LiH in argon atmosphere needs 72 hours to transform to Li3AlH6. Increasing the milling time to 120 hr the compounds are amorphized and its thermal stability deteriorates.