Utilizing Nanostructured Materials for Hydrogen Generation, Storage, and Diverse Applications

The rapid advancement of refined nanostructures and nanotechnologies offers significant potential to boost research activities in hydrogen storage. Recent innovations in hydrogen storage have centered on nanostructured materials, highlighting their effectiveness in molecular hydrogen storage, chemical storage, and as nanoconfined hydride supports. Emphasizing the importance of exploring ultra-high-surface-area nanoporous materials and metals, we advocate for their mechanical stability, rigidity, and high hydride loading capacities to enhance hydrogen storage efficiency. Despite the evident benefits of nanostructured materials in hydrogen storage, we also address the existing challenges and future research directions in this domain. Recent progress in creating intricate nanostructures has had a notable positive impact on the field of hydrogen storage, particularly in the realm of storing molecular hydrogen, where these nanostructured materials are primarily utilized.

Facile synthesis of NiCo2O4-anchored reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites as efficient additives for improving the dehydrogenation behavior of lithium alanate

Large surface area and mesoporous structures provided by NiCo₂O₄@rGO nanocomposites play a synergistic role in remarkably improving the dehydrogenation properties of LiAlH₄.

NiCo nanoalloy encapsulated in graphene layers for improving hydrogen storage properties of LiAlH4

NiCo nanoalloy (4-6 nm) encapsulated in grapheme layers (NiCo@G) has been prepared by thermolysis of a 3D bimetallic complex CoCo[Ni(EDTA)]2·4H2O and successfully employed as a catalyst to improve the dehydrogenation performances of LiAlH4 by solid ball-milling. NiCo@G presents a superior catalytic effect on the dehydrogenation of LiAlH4. For LiAlH4 doped with 1 wt% NiCo@G (LiAlH4-1 wt% NiCo@G), the onset dehydrogenation temperature of LiAlH4 is as low as 43 °C, which is 109 °C lower than that of pristine LiAlH4. 7.3 wt% of hydrogen can be released from LiAlH4-1 wt% NiCo@G at 150 °C within 60 min. The activation energies of LiAlH4 dehydrogenation are extremely reduced by 1 wt% NiCo@G doping.

Cost-Effective Hierarchical Catalysts for Promoting Hydrogen Release from Complex Hydrides

Fe nanoparticles (∼10 nm), used to grow carbon nanotubes (CNTs), have an outstanding ability to catalyze the dehydrogenation of LiAlH4 . The CNTs help connect Fe and LiAlH4 and create microchannels among the composite, thus promoting the release of hydrogen. Inspired by these results, a supercritical-CO2 -fluid-assisted deposition technique is employed to decorate the Fe/CNTs with highly dispersed nanosized Ni (∼2 nm in diameter) for better performance. With the incorporation of 10 wt % of this hierarchical catalyst (Ni/Fe/CNTs), the initial dehydrogenation temperature of LiAlH4 is decreased from ∼135 to ∼40 °C. At 100 °C, this catalyzed LiAlH4 takes only ∼0.1 h to release 4.5 wt % hydrogen, which is more than 100 times faster than the time needed with pristine LiAlH4 . The dehydrogenation mechanism of the complex hydride is examined using in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction.

Pseudo-binary electrolyte, LiBH4-LiCl, for bulk-type all-solid-state lithium-sulfur battery

The ionic conduction and electrochemical and thermal stabilities of the LiBH4-LiCl solid-state electrolyte were investigated for use in bulk-type all-solid-state lithium-sulfur batteries. The LiBH4-LiCl solid-state electrolyte exhibiting a lithium ionic conductivity of [Formula: see text] at 373 K, forms a reversible interface with a lithium metal electrode and has a wide electrochemical potential window up to 5 V. By means of the high-energy mechanical ball-milling technique, we prepared a composite powder consisting of elemental sulfur and mixed conductive additive, i.e., Ketjen black and Maxsorb. In that composite powder, homogeneous dispersion of the materials is achieved on a nanometer scale, and thereby a high concentration of the interface among them is induced. Such nanometer-scale dispersals of both elemental sulfur and carbon materials play an important role in enhancing the electrochemical reaction of elemental sulfur. The highly deformable LiBH4-LiCl electrolyte assists in the formation of a high concentration of tight interfaces with the sulfur-carbon composite powder. The LiBH4-LiCl electrolyte also allows the formation of the interface between the positive electrode and the electrolyte layers, and thus the Li-ion transport paths are established at that interface. As a result, our battery exhibits high discharge capacities of 1377, 856, and 636 mAh g(-1) for the 1st, 2nd, and 5th discharges, respectively, at 373 K. These results imply that complex hydride-based solid-state electrolytes that contain Cl-ions in the crystal would be integrated into rechargeable batteries.

Metal/graphene nanocomposites synthesized with the aid of supercritical fluid for promoting hydrogen release from complex hydrides

With the aid of supercritical CO2, Fe-, Ni-, Pd-, and Au-nanoparticle-decorated nanostructured carbon materials (graphene, activated carbon, carbon black, and carbon nanotubes) are synthesized for catalyzing the dehydrogenation of LiAlH4. The effects of the metal nanoparticle size and distribution, and the type of carbon structure on the hydrogen release properties are investigated. The Fe/graphene nanocomposite, which consists of ∼2 nm Fe particles highly dispersed on graphene nanosheets, exhibits the highest catalytic performance. With this nanocomposite, the initial dehydrogenation temperature can be lowered (from ∼135 °C for pristine LiAlH4) to ∼40 °C without altering the reaction route (confirmed by in situ X-ray diffraction), and 4.5 wt% H2 can be released at 100 °C within 6 min, which is faster by more than 135-fold than the time required to release the same amount of H2 from pristine LiAlH4.

Enhanced hydrogen storage properties of LiAlH4 catalyzed by CoFe2O4 nanoparticles

The catalytic effects of CoFe₂O₄ nanoparticles on the hydrogen storage properties of LiAlH₄ prepared by ball milling were investigated.