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 silicabased 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. © 2011 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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