Experimental study of Ti films hydrogenation using magnetron water vapour plasma

Abstract

The aim of this research is to get hydrogen from water using ion implantation of water molecules. It would be a new method for hydrogen obtaining from water. Water vapour is formed and directed to vacuum chamber. The plasma is generated in water vapour at 1 – 10 Pa using the magnetron. Positive ions are extracted from plasma, accelerated by electric field and directed to the Ti sample. The energetic water molecules entering the solid is decomposed into its components: hydrogen and oxygen. The energy of the incident ions depends on the voltage between cathode and anode of magnetron. The cathode of magnetron is made of titanium. The formation of hydrides in Ti film was investigated aiming to prove the split of water molecules under ion implantation. Samples were fabricated after different durations of plasma treatment. All samples have been analyzed by SEM (scanning electron microscopy), EDX (energy dispersive X – Ray spectroscopy) and XRD (X – ray diffraction) methods. EDX is used for information about elementals, except hydrogen, composition and concentration of the film, XRD – for the microstructure and formation of new phases. The preliminary results show that stoichiometric metal hydride (TiH2) is not formed. However, all XRD patterns include the diffraction peak of titanium hydrogen oxide hydrate. Further experiments of research will be done by changing the deposition method from magnetron to RF plasma.