Al Surface Modification by a Facile Route

A facile route was used to modify Al particle surfaces by putting Al particles into an Al ( OH ) 3 suspension, which was produced by the reaction of Al powder with water under vacuum at a mild temperature, then drying and heat‐treating under vacuum at elevated temperature. The modified Al powder has a good reaction activity with water to generate hydrogen, and its reaction rate depends on the sizes of Al particles used to produce Al ( OH ) 3 suspension. The reaction induction time of the modified Al powder prepared using the Al ( OH ) 3 suspension produced by the reaction of Al with water is obviously shorter than that prepared using the Al ( OH ) 3 suspension formed by the direct addition of a commercial Al ( OH ) 3 powder, because the in situ formed Al ( OH ) 3 has a finer microstructure. As the present method has no complicated processing procedure and the Al ‐water reaction byproduct can be reused to modify Al , it is an economically viable way to fabricate the activated Al powder for commercial applications.