In this work Mg- and K-containing alanates have been investigated as possible hydrogen storage materials. Ball milling was carried out under argon or at moderate/high hydrogen pressure in order to obtain an improved driving force for the formation of potential new alanate phases. Powder X-ray diffraction and volumetric measurements were used in order to identify reaction mechanisms and phases forming in these systems. New unidentified peaks were detected for the mixtures 2MgH2+3Al+KH and 2CaH2+Al+2KH. However, they do not seem to belong to reversible hydride phases.

This paper highlights the influence of a refined microstructure on the wear behaviour of cermets by comparing TiC‐Ni based, VPS‐sprayed microcrystalline and nanocrystalline cermet coatings. The coatings are subjected to two‐body and three‐body abrasive wear at different loads. Fracture behaviour as well as mass loss and surface quality after the wear tests are evaluated. Although at low wear loads, the refined microstructure leads to a higher mass loss, at high loads the wear resistance of the nanocrystalline coating is superior. This behaviour is strongly related to a significantly higher toughness of the nanocrystalline coating. Independent of the wear load, the nanocrystalline microstructure leads to less surface roughness after wear.