Enhanced dehydrogenation and regeneration behavior of LiBH4–LiAlH4–MgCl2 in nanoporous carbons

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

Authors

  • C.-Y. Hsu
  • Claus Rebholz
  • Chung-Kai Chang
  • Yu-Chun Chuang
  • Cheng-Yu Wang

External Organisational units

  • National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University
  • Research Unit for Nanostructured Materials Systems, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology
  • National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center

Abstract

With high hydrogen capacity, lithium borohydride (LiBH 4, LBH) is considered as a promising hydrogen storage material. However, high dehydrogenation temperature (460 °C) and critical rehydrogenation conditions (155 bar H 2 at 600 °C), hindered by the stable Li 2B 12H 12, downgrade the LBH application in hydrogen storage. In this research, we investigated the nanoconfinement effect of LBH with lithium aluminum hydride (LiAlH 4, LAH, also called lithium alanate) and magnesium chloride (MgCl 2), forming a ternary system LiBH 4–LiAlH 4–MgCl 2 (borohydride, alanate, and magnesium chloride; BAM) in different porous carbon supports. BAM confined in activated carbon (BAM@AC) showed the lowest peak dehydrogenation temperature at 227 °C, with a 98.6% hydrogen generation yield. The activation energy of LBH decomposition decreased tremendously from 146 to 59 kJ/mol in BAM@AC with reaction path modification. For rehydrogenation, 93.71% of LBH was regenerated in BAM@AC at 350 °C under 30 bar H 2. The improved LBH rehydrogenation is due to the formation of MgAlB 4 after BAM thermolysis, which represented the manipulation of the reaction route and the prohibition of Li 2B 12H 12 formation. The much lower dehydrogenation temperatures and mild regeneration conditions in lithium borohydride show a promising perspective in the future development of complex metal hydrides in hydrogen storage.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)712-722
Number of pages11
JournalInternational Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Volume106.2025
Issue number6 March
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Feb 2025