Plasma-aided activation and hydrogen desorption of ZrVFe getter

Metal alloys as getters hold great potential in storage, utilization and elimination of hydrogen but usually necessitate high-temperature thermal assistance to complete a cyclic process including getter activation, gas adsorption, desorption and re-adsorption. In this work, a radio frequency discharge plasma, with a temperature close to 300 °C, is imposed instead of heating to assist hydrogen getter to accomplish the cyclic process. The comparison between plasma-aided and heating-aided processes is conducted. The results indicate that the hydrogen plasma can activate the ZrVFe within 5 min. The getters then stabilize the chamber pressure below 150 Pa for 1685 s at a hydrogen flowrate of 52 sccm, whereas the getters heated at 300 °C for an hour hardly adsorb hydrogen. Moreover, hydrogenated getters can release hydrogen under plasma action, representing a 20.6 % increase relative to the desorption amount of getters under 300 °C heating. Plasma desorption also enhances the re-adsorption capacity of the getter, and it can reach 2.25 times that of heating desorption at 300 °C. The spectrum, material and discharge characteristics are investigated to analyze the mechanism of plasma-aided getter action. The strong reducibility of active hydrogen particles is proposed as the primary factor in plasma activation. The layer by layer surface interaction between plasma and getter promotes hydrogen desorption effectively. • Non-thermal plasma assists ZrVFe to achieve hydrogen adsorption and desorption cycle. • An activation mode of ZrVFe getter under the action of hydrogen plasma is reported. • Plasma can activate the ZrVFe with a lower temperature and shorter time than heating. • Plasma can assist the getter in dehydrogenation more effectively than heating. • Active hydrogen particles in discharge are crucial in plasma-aided getter action.