Effects of nano size mischmetal and its oxide on improving the hydrogen sorption behaviour of MgH2

This paper reports the catalytic effects of mischmetal (Mm) and mischmetal oxide (Mm-oxide) on improving the dehydrogenation and rehydrogenation behaviour of magnesium hydride (MgH₂). It has been found that 5 wt.% is the optimum catalyst (Mm/Mm-oxide) concentration for MgH₂. The Mm and Mm-oxide catalyzed MgH₂ exhibits hydrogen desorption at significantly lower temperature and also fast rehydrogenation kinetics compared to ball-milled MgH₂ under identical conditions of temperature and pressure. The onset desorption temperature for MgH₂ catalyzed with Mm and Mm-oxide are 323 °C and 305 °C, respectively. Whereas the onset desorption temperature for the ball-milled MgH₂ is 381 °C. Thus, there is a lowering of onset desorption temperature by 58 °C for Mm and by 76 °C for Mm-oxide. The dehydrogenation activation energy of Mm-oxide catalyzed MgH₂ is 66 kJ/mol. It is 35 kJ/mol lower than ball-milled MgH₂. Additionally, the Mm-oxide catalyzed dehydrogenated Mg exhibits faster rehydrogenation kinetics. It has been noticed that in the first 10 min, the Mm-oxide catalyzed Mg (dehydrogenated MgH₂) has absorbed up to 4.75 wt.% H₂ at 315 °C under 15 atmosphere hydrogen pressure. The activation energy determined for the rehydrogenation of Mm-oxide catalyzed Mg is ∼62 kJ/mol, whereas that for the ball-milled Mg alone is ∼91 kJ/mol. Thus, there is a decrease in absorption activation energy by ∼29 kJ/mol for the Mm-oxide catalyzed Mg. In addition, Mm-oxide is the native mixture of CeO₂ and La₂O₃ which makes the duo a better catalyst than CeO₂, which is known to be an effective catalyst for MgH₂. This takes place due to the synergistic effect of CeO₂ and La₂O₃. It can thus be said that Mm-oxide is an effective catalyst for improving the hydrogen sorption behaviour of MgH₂.     

Improved hydrogen storage properties of Mg/MgH2 thanks to the addition of nickel hydride complex precursors

In order to improve the hydrogenation/dehydrogenation properties of the Mg/MgH₂ system, the nickel hydride complex NiHCl(P(C₆H₁₁)₃)₂ has been added in different amounts to MgH₂ by planetary ball milling. The hydrogen storage properties of the formed composites were studied by different thermal analyses methods (temperature programmed desorption, calorimetric and pressure-composition-temperature analyses). The optimal amount of the nickel complex precursor was found to be of 20 wt%. It allows to homogeneously disperse 1.8 wt% of nickel active species at the surface of the Mg/MgH₂ particles. After the decomposition of the complex during MgH₂ dehydrogenation, the formed composite is stable upon cycling at low temperature. It can release hydrogen at 200 °C and absorb 6.3 wt% of H₂ at 100 °C in less than 1 h. The significantly enhanced H₂ storage properties are due to the impact of the highly dispersed nickel on both the kinetics and thermodynamics of the Mg/MgH₂ system. The hydrogenation and dehydrogenation enthalpies were found to be of −65 and 63 kJ/mol H₂ respectively (±75 kJ/mol H₂ for pure Mg/MgH₂) and the calculated apparent activation energies of the hydrogen uptake and release processes are of 22 and 127 kJ/mol H₂ respectively (88 and 176 kJ/mol H₂ for pure Mg/MgH₂). The change in the thermodynamics observed in the formed composite is likely to be due to the formation of a Mg_0.992Ni_0.008 phase during dehydrogenation/hydrogenation cycling. The impact of another hydride nickel precursor in which chloride has been replaced by a borohydride ligand, namely NiH(BH₄)(P(C₆H₁₁)₃)₂, is also reported.     

Synthesis of low-cost biomass charcoal-based Ni nanocatalyst and evaluation of their kinetic enhancement of MgH2

In this study, a low-cost biomass charcoal (BC)-based nickel catalyst (Ni/BC) was introduced into the MgH₂ system by ball-milling. The study demonstrated that the Ni/BC catalyst significantly improved the hydrogen desorption and absorption kinetics of MgH₂. The MgH₂ + 10 wt% Ni/BC-3 composite starts to release hydrogen at 187.8 °C, which is 162.2 °C lower than the initial dehydrogenation temperature of pure MgH₂. Besides, 6.04 wt% dehydrogenation can be achieved within 3.5 min at 300 °C. After the dehydrogenation is completed, MgH₂ + 10 wt% Ni/BC-3 can start to absorb hydrogen even at 30 °C, which achieved the absorption of 5 wt% H₂ in 60 min under the condition of 3 MPa hydrogen pressure and 125 °C. The apparent activation energies of dehydrogenation and hydrogen absorption of MgH₂ + 10 wt% Ni/BC-3 composites were 82.49 kJ/mol and 23.87 kJ/mol lower than those of pure MgH₂, respectively, which indicated that the carbon layer wrapped around MgH₂ effectively improved the cycle stability of hydrogen storage materials. Moreover, MgH₂ + 10 wt% Ni/BC-3 can still maintain 99% hydrogen storage capacity after 20 cycles. XRD, EDS, SEM and TEM revealed that the Ni/BC catalyst evenly distributed around MgH₂ formed Mg₂Ni/Mg₂NiH₄ in situ, which act as a “hydrogen pump” to boost the diffusion of hydrogen along with the Mg/MgH₂ interface. Meanwhile, the carbon layer with fantastic conductivity enormously accelerated the electron transfer. Consequently, there is no denying that the synergistic effect extremely facilitated the hydrogen absorption and desorption kinetic performance of MgH₂.     

Synergetic effect of Ni and Nb2O5 on dehydrogenation properties of nanostructured MgH2 synthesized by high-energy mechanical alloying

Nanostructured MgH₂-Ni/Nb₂O₅ nanocomposite was synthesized by high-energy mechanical alloying. The effect of MgH₂ structure, i.e. crystallite size and lattice strain, and the presence of 0.5 mol% Ni and Nb₂O₅ on the hydrogen-desorption kinetics was investigated. It is shown that the dehydrogenation temperature of MgH₂ decreases from 426 °C to 327 °C after 4 h mechanical alloying. Here, the average crystallite size and accumulated lattice strain are 20 nm and 0.9%, respectively. Further improvement in the hydrogen desorption is attained in the presence of Ni and Nb₂O₅, i.e. the dehydrogenation temperature of MgH₂/Ni and MgH₂/Nb₂O₅ is measured to be 230 °C and 220 °C, respectively. Meanwhile, the dehydrogenation starts at 200 °C in MgH₂–Ni/Nb₂O₅ system, revealing synergetic effect of Ni and Nb₂O₅. The mechanism of the catalytic effect is presented.     

Effect of Ni and SAPO-34 co-additive on enhancing hydrogen storage performance of MgH2

The hydrogen storage performances of MgH₂ improved by the addition of Ni and SAPO-34 were studied in detail. The mixture of MgH₂ with Ni and SAPO-34 was a physical reaction as shown by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) results. The SAPO-34 and Ni were uniformly distributed on the surface of MgH₂. The thermodynamic and kinetic properties of 90MgH₂/5Ni/5SAPO-34 were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and pressure-composition-isothermal (PCI) methods. The results showed that the dehydrogenation activation energy of 90MgH₂/5Ni/5SAPO-34 decreased by 64.3 kJ/mol compared with that of MgH₂. In addition, the relationship between the value of dehydrogenation heat and hydrogen content was also investigated by in-situ calorimetry. The enthalpy value of each sample in the dehydrogenation processes were calculated by in-situ calorimetry measurement. The dehydrogenation enthalpies of as-milled MgH₂ and 90MgH₂/5Ni/5SAPO-34 were 63.2 kJ/mol H₂ and 53.6 kJ/mol H₂, respectively. Thus, the co-doping of Ni and SAPO-34 contributed significantly to decrease the thermodynamic stability and improve the hydrogen sorption kinetic properties of MgH₂.     

Remarkable catalytic effect of Ni and ZrO2 nanoparticles on the hydrogen sorption properties of MgH2

In the present study, the catalytic effect of Ni and ZrO₂ nanoparticles on the hydrogen absorption and desorption properties of MgH₂ has been investigated. The MgH₂ nanocomposites were prepared by high-energy ball-milling. The morphology, phase structure, thermal behavior, and hydrogen storage properties of the materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), temperature-programmed desorption (TPD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and the pressure-composition temperature (PCT) methods. ZrO₂ and Ni nanoparticles were homogenously dispersed into the MgH₂ matrix. The calculated apparent activation energy for dehydrogenation was 63.4 kJ/mol, which was decreased by 80.1 kJ/mol compared to that of as-milled MgH₂. As a result, MgH₂+5 wt.%Ni+5 wt.%ZrO₂ demonstrated improved dehydrogenation and hydrogenation kinetics at 310 °C. The MgH₂+5 wt.%Ni+5 wt.%ZrO₂ sample released about 6.83 wt.% and absorbed about 6.10 wt.% in less than 30 min. Therefore, the co-catalysis of Ni and ZrO₂ significantly enhances the hydrogenation and dehydrogenation properties of MgH₂.     

Enhanced hydrogen properties of MgH2 by Fe nanoparticles loaded hollow carbon spheres

In the present investigation, we have reported the synergistic effect of Fe nanoparticles and hollow carbon spheres composite on the hydrogen storage properties of MgH₂. The onset desorption temperature for MgH₂ catalyzed with hollow carbon spheres and Fe nanoparticle (MgH₂-Fe-HCS) system has been observed to be 225.9 °C with a hydrogen storage capacity of 5.60 wt %. It could be able to absorb 5.60 wt % hydrogen within 55 s and desorb 5.50 wt % hydrogen within 12 min under 20 atm H₂ pressure at 300 °C. The desorption activation energy of MgH₂-Fe-HCS has been found to be 84.9 kJ/mol, whereas the desorption activation energies for as received MgH₂, Hollow carbon sphere catalyzed MgH₂ and Fe catalyzed MgH₂ are found to be 130 kJ/mol, 103 kJ/mol, and 94.2 kJ/mol respectively. MgH₂-Fe-HCS composite lowered the change in enthalpy of hydrogen desorption from MgH₂ by 20.02 kJ/mol as compared to pristine MgH₂. MgH₂-Fe-HCS shows better cyclability up to 24 cycles of hydrogenation and dehydrogenation of MgH₂. The mechanism for the better catalytic action of Fe and HCS on MgH₂ has also been discussed.     

Enhanced hydrogen storage properties of 4MgH2 + LiAlH4 composite system by doping with Fe2O3 nanopowder

In this paper, the hydrogen storage properties and reaction mechanism of the 4MgH₂ + LiAlH₄ composite system with the addition of Fe₂O₃ nanopowder were investigated. Temperature-programmed-desorption results show that the addition of 5 wt.% Fe₂O₃ to the 4MgH₂ + LiAlH₄ composite system improves the onset desorption temperature to 95 °C and 270 °C for the first two dehydrogenation stage, which is lower 40 °C and 10 °C than the undoped composite. The dehydrogenation and rehydrogenation kinetics of 5 wt.% Fe₂O₃-doped 4MgH₂ + LiAlH₄ composite were also improved significantly as compared to the undoped composite. Differential scanning calorimetry measurements indicate that the enthalpy change in the 4MgH₂–LiAlH₄ composite system was unaffected by the addition of Fe₂O₃ nanopowder. The Kissinger analysis demonstrated that the apparent activation energy of the 4MgH₂ + LiAlH₄ composite (125.6 kJ/mol) was reduced to 117.1 kJ/mol after doping with 5 wt.% Fe₂O₃. Meanwhile, the X-ray diffraction analysis shows the formation of a new phase of Li₂Fe₃O₄ in the doped composite after the dehydrogenation and rehydrogenation process. It is believed that Li₂Fe₃O₄ acts as an actual catalyst in the 4MgH₂ + LiAlH₄ + 5 wt.% Fe₂O₃ composite which may promote the interaction of MgH₂ and LiAlH₄ and thus accelerate the hydrogen sorption performance of the MgH₂ + LiAlH₄ composite system.     

Catalysis derived from flower-like Ni MOF towards the hydrogen storage performance of magnesium hydride

Herein, a novel flower-like Ni MOF with good thermostability is introduced into MgH₂ for the first time, and which demonstrates excellent catalytic activity on improving hydrogen storage performance of MgH₂. The peak dehydrogenation temperature of MgH₂-5 wt.% Ni MOF is 78 °C lower than that of pure MgH₂. Besides, MgH₂-5 wt.% Ni MOF shows faster de/hydrogenation kinetics, releasing 6.4 wt% hydrogen at 300 °C within 600 s and restoring about 5.7 wt% hydrogen at 150 °C after dehydrogenation. The apparent activation energy for de/hydrogenation reactions are calculated to be 107.8 and 42.8 kJ/mol H₂ respectively, which are much lower than that of MgH₂ doped with other MOFs. In addition, the catalytic mechanism of flower-like Ni MOF is investigated in depth, through XRD, XPS and TEM methods. The high catalytic activity of flower-like Ni MOF can be attributed to the combining effect of in-situ generated Mg₂Ni/Mg₂NiH₄, MgO nanoparticles, amorphous C and remaining layered Ni MOF. This research extends the knowledge of elaborating efficient catalysts via MOFs in hydrogen storage materials.     

CNTs decorated with CoFeB as a dopant to remarkably improve the dehydrogenation/rehydrogenation performance and cyclic stability of MgH2

The chain-like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) decorated with CoFeB (CoFeB/CNTs) prepared by oxidation-reduction method is introduced into MgH₂ to facilitate its hydrogen storage performance. The addition of CoFeB/CNTs enables MgH₂ to start desorbing hydrogen at only 177 °C. Whereas pure MgH₂ starts hydrogen desorption at 310 °C. The dehydrogenation apparent activation energy of MgH₂ in CoFeB/CNTs doped-MgH₂ composite is only 83.2 kJ/mol, and this is about 59.5 kJ/mol lower than that of pure MgH₂. In addition, the completely dehydrogenated MgH₂−10 wt% CoFeB/CNTs sample can start to absorb hydrogen at only 30 °C. At 150 °C and 5 MPa H₂, the MgH₂ in CoFeB/CNTs doped-MgH₂ composite can absorb 6.2 wt% H₂ in 10 min. The cycling kinetics can remain rather stable up to 20 cycles, and the hydrogen storage capacity retention rate is 98.5%. The in situ formation of Co₃MgC, Fe, CoFe and B caused by the introduction of CoFeB/CNTs can provide active and nucleation sites for the dehydrogenation/rehydrogenation reactions of MgH₂. Moreover, CNTs can provide hydrogen diffusion pathways while also enhancing the thermal conductivity of the sample. All of these can facilitate the dehydrogenation/rehydrogenation performance and cyclic stability of MgH₂.     

Improved hydrogen desorption properties of exfoliated graphite and graphene nanoballs modified MgH2

Magnesium hydride is a leading hydrogen storage material with high hydrogen content, however, suffers with sluggish kinetics. Several methods have been adopted to improve its kinetics, out of which, the addition of catalyst is an impressive way. Carbon materials have shown their promises as catalyst for several hydrogen storage materials. The present work is devoted to investigating the catalytic effects of exfoliated graphite and graphene nanoballs on dehydrogenation kinetics of MgH₂. The lowest onset temperature of 282 °C is observed for graphene nanoballs modified MgH₂ system. Exfoliated graphite mixed MgH₂ desorbed hydrogen at onset temperature 301 °C which is also less than the dehydrogenation temperature of pure MgH₂ (410 °C). The dehydrogenation kinetics has significantly improved by the addition of these catalysts as compared to the pure MgH₂. The activation energy for the hydrogen desorption of MgH₂ was reduced from 170 (pure MgH₂) to 136 ± 2 and 140 ± 2 kJ/mol by the addition of exfoliated graphite and graphene nanoballs, respectively. The XRD results confirmed the presence of MgH₂ after milling with exfoliated graphite and graphene nanoballs that indicates that there are no reactions during the milling thus both the additives are effective to improve the dehydrogenation as a catalyst.     

Hydrogen sorption performance of MgH2 doped with mesoporous nickel- and cobalt-based oxides

The effect of mesoporous Co₃O₄, NiCo₂O₄ and NiO on the hydrogen sorption performance of MgH₂ was investigated. These oxides were synthesized by multi-step nanocasting and introduced during the high-energy ball milling of MgH₂ powder to act as catalysts. Hydrogen desorption on the as-milled powders was assessed upon heating the samples from room temperature to 400 °C. In all cases, the onset temperature for desorption was lowered by taking advantage of the introduced additives. The NiO-doped sample displayed the best response, the desorption rate being 7 times faster than in pure MgH₂. Complementary kinetic studies on this particular sample revealed that the sorption activation energies were much lower (50 kJ/mol for absorption and 335 kJ/mol for desorption) than the corresponding ones for undoped MgH₂ (57 kJ/mol for absorption and 345 kJ/mol for desorption), thus proving the catalytic activity of the mesoporous NiO oxide. Significantly, the X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) patterns taken on the NiO-doped sample after discharging/charging cycles revealed that Mg could fully hydrogenate at the end of the charging process, while Mg metal was still detected in the undoped (pure) sample. Favored conditions for dissociative chemisorption of hydrogen could be ascribed to the formation of metallic Ni arising from complete or partial reduction of NiO, as observed in the XRPD patterns.     

Enhancing hydrogen storage properties of the Mg/MgH2 system by the addition of bis(tricyclohexylphosphine)nickel(II) dichloride

This is a first report on the use of the bis(tricyclohexylphosphine)nickel (II) dichloride complex (abbreviated as NiPCy3) into MgH₂ based hydrogen storage systems. Different composites were prepared by planetary ball-milling by doping MgH₂ with (i) free tricyclohexylphosphine (PCy3) without or with nickel nanoparticles, (ii) different NiPCy3 contents (5–20 wt%) and (iii) nickel and iron nanoparticles with/without NiPCy3. The microstructural characterization of these composites before/after dehydrogenation was performed by TGA, XRD, NMR and SEM-EDX. Their hydrogen absorption/desorption kinetics were measured by TPD, DSC and PCT. All MgH₂ composites showed much better dehydrogenation properties than the pure ball-milled MgH₂. The hydrogen absorption/release kinetics of the Mg/MgH₂ system were significantly enhanced by doping with only 5 wt% of NiPCy3 (0.42 wt% Ni); the mixture desorbed H₂ starting at 220 °C and absorbed 6.2 wt% of H₂ in 5 min at 200 °C under 30 bars of hydrogen. This remarkable storage performance was not preserved upon cycling due to the complex decomposition during the dehydrogenation process. The hydrogen storage properties of NiPCy3-MgH₂ were improved and stabilized by the addition of Ni and Fe nanoparticles. The formed system released hydrogen at temperatures below 200 °C, absorbed 4 wt% of H₂ in less than 5 min at 100 °C, and presented good reversible hydriding/dehydriding cycles. A study of the different storage systems leads to the conclusion that the NiPCy3 complex acts by restricting the crystal size growth of Mg/MgH₂, catalyzing the H₂ release, and homogeneously dispersing nickel over the Mg/MgH₂ surface.     

Synergistic effect of rGO supported Ni3Fe on hydrogen storage performance of MgH2

Bimetallic catalysts possess unique physical and chemical properties that distinct from the individual, which offer the opportunity to ameliorate the hydrogen storage properties of MgH₂. Herein, a Ni₃Fe catalyst homogeneously loaded on the surface of reduced graphene oxide (Ni₃Fe/rGO) was prepared based on layered double hydroxide (LDH) precursor. The novel Ni₃Fe/rGO nano-catalyst was subsequently doped into MgH₂ to improve its hydrogen storage performance. The MgH₂-5 wt.% Ni₃Fe/rGO composite requires only 100 s to reach 6 wt% hydrogen capacity at 100 °C, while for MgH₂ doped with 5 wt% Ni₃Fe, Ni/rGO and Fe/rGO all require more than 500 s to uptake 3 wt% hydrogen under the same condition. The onset dehydrogenation temperature of the MgH₂-5 wt.% Ni₃Fe/rGO composite is about 185 °C, much lower than that of the MgH₂ doped with 5 wt% Ni₃Fe (205 °C), Ni/rGO (210 °C) and Fe/rGO (250 °C), and it can release H₂ completely even in 1000 s at 275 °C. Besides, the MgH₂-5 wt% Ni₃Fe/rGO displays the lowest dehydrogenation apparent activation energy of 59.3 kJ/mol calculated by Kissinger equation. The synergetic effect attributing to rGO, in-situ formed active species of Mg₂Ni and Fe is in charge of the excellent catalytic effect on hydrogen storage behavior of MgH₂. Meanwhile, this study supplies innovative insights to design high efficiency catalysts based on the LDH precursor.     

Integrated Ni/Nb2O5 nanocatalytic agent dose for improving the hydrogenation/dehydrogenation kinetics of reacted ball milled MgH2 powders

Reactive ball milling (RBM) technique was employed to synthesize ultrafine powders of MgH₂, using high energy ball mill operated at room temperature under 50 bar of a hydrogen gas atmosphere. The MgH₂ powders obtained after 200 h of continuous RBM time composed of β and γ phases. The powders possessed nanocrystalline characteristics with an average grain of about 10 nm in diameter. The time required for complete hydrogen absorption and desorption measured at 250 °C was 500 s and 2500 s, respectively. In order to improve the hydrogenation/dehydrogenation kinetics of as synthesized MgH₂ powders, three different types of nanocatalysts (metallic Ni, Nb₂O₅ and (Ni)_x/(Nb₂O₅)_y) were utilized with different weight percentages and independently ball milled with the MgH₂ powders for 50 h under 50 bar of a hydrogen gas atmosphere. The results showed that the prepared nanocomposite MgH₂/5Ni/5Nb₂O₅ powders possessed superior hydrogenation/dehydrogenation characteristics, indexed by low values of activation energy for β-phase (68 kJ/mol) and γ-phase (74 kJ/mol). This nanocomposite system showed excellent hydrogenation/dehydrogenization behavior, indexed by the short time required to uptake (41 s) and release (121 s) of 5 wt% H₂ at 250 °C. At this temperature the synthesized nanocomposite powders possessed excellent absorption/desorption cyclability of 180 complete cycles. No serious degradation on the hydrogen storage capacity could be detected and the system exhibited nearly constant absorption and desorption values of +5.46 and −5.46 wt% H₂, respectively.     

Enhanced hydrogen sorption properties of Ni and Co-catalyzed MgH2

MgH₂ is one of the most promising hydrogen storage materials due to its high capacity and low cost. In an effort to develop MgH₂ with a low dehydriding temperature and fast sorption kinetics, doping MgH₂ with NiCl₂ and CoCl₂ has been investigated in this paper. Both the dehydrogenation temperature and the absorption/desorption kinetics have been improved by adding either NiCl₂ or CoCl₂, and a significant enhancement was obtained in the case of the NiCl₂ doped sample. For example, a hydrogen absorption capacity of 5.17 wt% was reached at 300 °C in 60 s for the MgH₂/NiCl₂ sample. In contrast, the ball-milled MgH₂ just absorbed 3.51 wt% hydrogen at 300 °C in 400 s. An activation energy of 102.6 kJ/mol for the MgH₂/NiCl₂ sample has been obtained from the desorption data, 18.7 kJ/mol and 55.9 kJ/mol smaller than those of the MgH₂/CoCl₂, which also exhibits an enhanced kinetics, and of the pure MgH₂ sample, respectively. In addition, the enhanced kinetics was observed to persist even after 9 cycles in the case of the NiCl₂ doped MgH₂ sample. Further kinetic investigation indicated that the hydrogen desorption from the milled MgH₂ is controlled by a slow, random nucleation and growth process, which is transformed into two-dimensional growth after NiCl₂ or CoCl₂ doping, suggesting that the additives reduced the barrier and lowered the driving forces for nucleation.     

Studies on de/rehydrogenation characteristics of nanocrystalline MgH2 co-catalyzed with Ti,Fe and Ni

In the present study, we have investigated the combined effect of different transition metals such as Ti, Fe and Ni on the de/rehydrogenation characteristics of nano MgH₂. Mechanical milling of MgH₂ with 5 wt% each of Ti, Fe and Ni for 24 h at 12 atm of H₂ pressure lead to the formation of nano MgH₂-Ti5Fe5Ni5. The decomposition temperature of nano MgH₂-Ti5Fe5Ni5 is lowered by 90 °C as compared to nano MgH₂ alone. It is also found that the nano MgH₂-Ti5Fe5Ni5 absorbs 5.3 wt% within 15 min at 270 °C and 12 atm hydrogen pressures. However, nano MgH₂ reabsorbs only 4.2 wt% under identical condition. An interesting result of the present study is that mechanical milling of MgH₂ separately with Fe and Ni besides refinement in particle size also leads to the formation of alloys Mg₂NiH₄ and Mg₂FeH₆ respectively. On the other hand, when MgH₂ is mechanically milled together with Ti, Fe and Ni, the dominant result is the formation of nano particles of MgH₂. Moreover the activation energy for dehydrogenation of nano MgH₂ co-catalyzed with Ti, Fe and Ni is 45.67 kJ/mol which is 35.71 kJ/mol lower as compared to activation energy of nano MgH₂ (81.34 kJ/mol). These results are one of the most significant in regard to improvement in de/rehydrogenation characteristics of known MgH₂ catalyzed through transition metal elements.     

ZrO2@Nb2CTx composite as the efficient catalyst for Mg/MgH2 based reversible hydrogen storage material

While Mg/MgH₂ system has a high hydrogen storage capacity, its sluggish hydrogen desorption rate has hindered practical applications. Herein, we report that the hydrogen absorption and desorption kinetics of Mg/MgH₂ system can be significantly improved by using the synergetic effect between Nb₂CT_x MXene and ZrO₂. The catalyst of Nb₂CT_x MXene loading with ZrO₂ (ZrO₂@Nb₂CT_x) is successfully synthesized, and the dehydrogenation activation energy of MgH₂ becomes as low as 60.0 kJ/mol H₂ when ZrO₂@Nb₂CT_x is used as the catalyst, which is far smaller than the case of ZrO₂ (94.8 kJ/mol H₂) and Nb₂CT_x MXene (125.6 kJ/mol H₂). With the addition of ZrO₂@Nb₂CT_x catalyst, MgH₂ can release about 6.24 wt.% and 5.69 wt.% of hydrogen within 150 s at 300 °C and within 900 s even at 240 °C, respectively. Moreover, it realizes hydrogen absorption at room temperature, which can uptake 2.98 wt.% of hydrogen within 1800 s. The catalytic mechanism analysis demonstrates that the in-situ formed nanocomposites can weaken the Mg–H bonding and provide more hydrogen diffusion channels, enabling the dissociation and recombination of hydrogen under milder reaction conditions.     

Effect of CO on hydrogen storage performance of 2LiNH2 + MgH2 system

(2LiNH₂ + MgH₂) system is one of the most promising hydrogen storage materials due to its suitable operation temperature and high reversible hydrogen storage capacity. In studies and applications, impurities such as CO, CO₂, O₂, N₂ and CH₄ are potential factors which may influence its performance. In the present work, hydrogen containing 1 mol% CO is employed as the hydrogenation gas source, and directly participates in the reaction to investigate the effect of CO on the hydrogen sorption properties of (2LiNH₂ + MgH₂) system. The results indicate that the hydrogen capacity of the (Mg(NH₂)₂ + 2LiH) system declines from 5 wt.% to 3.45 wt.% after 6 cycles of hydrogenation and dehydrogenation, and can not restore to its initial level when use purified hydrogen again. The hydrogen desorption kinetics decreases obviously and the dehydrogenation activation energy increases from 133.35 kJ/mol to 153.35 kJ/mol. The main reason for these is that two new products Li₂CN₂ and MgO appear after (2LiNH₂ + MgH₂) react with CO. They are formed on the surface of materials particles, which may not only cause a permanent loss of NH²⁻, but also prevent the substance transmission during the reaction process. After re-mechanically milling, both kinetics and dehydrogenation activation energy can be recovered to the initial level.     

Effect of Ti-based nanosized additives on the hydrogen storage properties of MgH2

MgH₂-based nanocomposites were synthesized by high-energy reactive ball milling (RBM) of Mg powder with 0.5–5 mol% of various catalytic additives (nano-Ti, nano-TiO₂, and Ti₄Fe₂O_x suboxide powders) in hydrogen. The additives were shown to facilitate hydrogenation of magnesium during RBM and substantially improve its hydrogen absorption-desorption kinetics. X-ray diffraction analysis showed the formation of nanocrystalline MgH₂ and hydrogenation of nano-Ti and Ti₄Fe₂O_x. The possible reduction of TiO₂ during RBM in hydrogen was not observed, which is in agreement with lower hydrogenation capacity of the corresponding composite, 5.7 wt% for Mg + 5 mol% nano-TiO₂ compared to 6.5 wt% for Mg + 5 mol% nano-Ti. Hydrogen desorption from the as-prepared composites was studied by Thermal Desorption Spectroscopy (TDS) in vacuum. A significant lowering of the hydrogen desorption temperature of MgH₂ by 30–90 °C in the presence of the additives is associated with lowering activation energy from 146 kJ/mol for nanosized MgH₂ down to 74 and 67 kJ/mol for MgH₂ modified with nano-TiO₂ and Ti₄Fe₂O_0.3 additives, respectively. After hydrogen desorption at 300–350 °C, these materials are able to absorb hydrogen even at room temperature. It is shown that nano-structuring and addition of Ti-based catalysts do not decrease thermodynamic stability of MgH₂. The thermodynamic parameters, obtained from hydrogen desorption isotherms for the Mg–Ti₄Fe₂O_0.3 nanocomposite, ΔH_des = 76 kJ/mol H₂ and ΔS_des = 138 J/K·mol H₂, correspond to the reported literature values for pure polycrystalline MgH₂. Hydrogen absorption-desorption characteristics of the composites with nano-Ti remain stable during at least 25 cycles, while a gradual decay of the reversible hydrogen capacity occurred in the case of TiO₂ and Ti₄Fe₂O_x additives. Cycling stability of Mg/Ti₄Fe₂O_x was substantially improved by introduction of 3 wt% graphite into the composite.