Silica-Metal Composite for Hydrogen Storage Applications
In spite of their favourable chemical characteristics, using AB5 alloys as fixed bed for hydrogen storage devices requires proper management of a number of technological aspects. Among these, the mechanical stability of metal particle grains under hydrogen cycling and the overall thermal conductivity of the material bed constitute crucial features. We developed by High Energy Ball Milling HEBM a mechanically stable silica-based AB5 composite with enhanced thermal conductivity. Here, focusing on the material’s physical-chemical properties, we report on the silica-AB5 composite development and characterization. Particularly, we studied the material consolidation process, the resulting composite morphology and the system behaviour under hydrogen loading/unloading cycling.
Hydration Characteristics of Metal Hydride Fixed in Resin Form
Metal hydride powders were fixed in resin forms of two different shapes, a cylinder and a film. The pressure-composition-temperature (PCT) characteristics and the durability to the hydriding/dehydriding cycles were tested.The PACT characteristics were found to show a similar trend to that of untreated powders, except for a slight decrease in hydration capacity and a slight increase in the pressure hysteresis. The hydration rate increased with increase in metal hydride content and was not much different from that of powders of samples with a high content of metal hydride. Further, from SEM observation it was confirmed that the metal powders were well fixed in the resin matrix in spite of the breakdown of the powders themselves after several repetitive operations. Little damage was observed to the base resin with repetition.It is concluded that the metal-hydride fixation tested in this work is applicable as a new functional method with durability.
Coronial Practice, Indigeneity and Suicide
All available data suggest that, like many other Indigenous peoples, Australian Aborigines are significantly more likely to kill themselves than are non-Aboriginal Australians. This statistical disparity is normally positioned an objective, ontological and undeniable social fact, a fact best explained as a function of endemic community disadvantage and disenfranchisement. This research explores the possibility that higher-than-normal Aboriginal suicide rates may also be a function of coronial decision-making practices. Based upon in-depth interviews with 32 coroners from across Australia, the following conclusions emerged from the data. First, coroners have differing perceptions of Indigenous capacity, and are less likely to have concerns about intent when the suicide is committed by an Indigenous person. Second, coroners have identified divergent scripts of Indigenous suicide, particularly its spontaneity and public location, and this supports rather than challenges, a finding of suicide. Third, the coronial perception of Indigenous life is a factor which influences a suicide determination for Indigenous deaths. Finally, the low level of Indigenous engagement with the coronial system, and the unlikelihood of a challenge to the finding of suicide by Indigenous families, means that a coronial determination of suicide is more likely.