Hydrogen storage properties of Li-decorated B2S monolayers: A DFT study

Hydrogen storage properties of Li functionalized B₂S honeycomb monolayers are studied using density functional theory calculations. The binding of H₂ molecules to the clean B₂S sheet proceeds through physisorption. Dispersed Li atoms on the monolayer surface increase both the hydrogen binding energies and the hydrogen storage capacities significantly. Additionally, ab initio molecular dynamics calculations show that there is no kinetic barrier during H₂ desorption from lithiated B₂S. Among the studied B₈S₄Li_x (x = 1, 2, 4, and 12) compounds, the B₈S₄Li₄ is found to be the most promising candidate for hydrogen storage purposes; with a 9.1 wt% H₂ content and 0.14 eV/H₂ average hydrogen binding energy. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the electronic properties of the B₈S₄Li₄ compound before and after H₂ molecule adsorption confirms that the interactions between Li and H₂ molecules are of electrostatic nature.     

Li decorated heteroborospherene C4B32 as high capacity and reversible hydrogen storage media: A DFT study

In this work, adsorption of H₂ molecules on heteroborospherene C_2v C₄B₃₂ decorated by alkali atoms (Li) is studied by density functional theory calculations. The interaction between Li atoms and C₄B₃₂ is found to be strong, so that it prevents agglomeration of the former. An introduced hydrogen molecule tilts toward the Li atoms and is stably adsorbed on C₄B₃₂. It is obtained that Li₄C₄B₃₂ can store up to 12H₂ molecules with hydrogen uptake capacity of 5.425 wt% and average adsorption energy of ?0.240 eV per H₂. Dynamics simulation results show that 6H₂ molecules can be successfully released at 300 K. Obtained results demonstrate that Li decorated C₄B₃₂ is a promising material for reversible hydrogen storage.     

Stabilized Li-decoration and enhanced hydrogen storage on reduced graphene oxides

Hydrogen storage properties of Li-decorated graphene oxides containing epoxy and hydroxyl groups are studied by using density functional theory. The Li atoms form Li₄O/Li₃OH clusters and are anchored strongly on the graphene surface with binding energies of −3.20 and −2.84 eV. The clusters transfer electrons to the graphene substrate, and the Li atoms exist as Li⁺ cations with strong adsorption ability for H₂ molecules. Each Li atom can adsorb at least 2H₂ molecules with adsorption energies greater than −0.20 eV/H₂. The hydrogen storage properties of Li-decorated graphene at different oxidation degrees are studied. The computations show that the adsorption energy of H₂ is −0.22 eV/H₂ and the hydrogen storage capacity is 6.04 wt% at the oxidation ratio O/C = 1/16. When the O/C ratio is 1:8, the storage capacity reaches 10.26 wt% and the adsorption energy is −0.15 eV/H₂. These results suggest that reversible hydrogen storage with high recycling capacities at ambient temperature can be realized through light-metal decoration on reduced graphene oxides.     

Light and stable LinB14(n=1–5) clusters for high capacity hydrogen storage at room temperature: A DFT study

In this article, we have explored the hydrogen (H₂) storage capacity of the Li doped B clusters Li_nB₁₄(n = 1–5) using density functional theory (DFT). The geometrical and Bader's topological parameters indicate that the clusters adsorb H₂ in the molecular form. The Li atom polarises the H₂ molecules for their effective adsorption on the clusters. The Li_nB₁₄ (n = 1–5) clusters are found to be stable even after H₂ adsorption at room temperature. The average adsorption energy is found to be in the range of 0.12–0.14 eV/H₂. Among the various clusters, the Li₅B₁₄ shows maximum H₂ storage capacity (13.89 wt%) at room temperature. The ADMP simulation reveals that within few femtoseconds (fs), the H₂ molecules begin to move away from the clusters and within 400 fs most of the H₂ molecules moved away from the clusters.     

High-capacity hydrogen storage in Li-decorated (AlN)n (n = 12, 24, 36) nanocages

The capability of Li-decorated (AlN)_n (n = 12, 24, 36) nanocages for hydrogen storage has been studied by using density functional theory (DFT) with the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). It is found that each Al atom is capable of binding one H₂ molecule up to a gravimetric density of hydrogen storage of 4.7 wt% with an average binding energy of 0.189, 0.154, and 0.144 eV/H₂ in the pristine (AlN)_n (n = 12, 24, 36) nanocages, respectively. Further, we find that Li atoms can be preferentially decorated on the top of N atoms in (AlN)_n (n = 12, 24, 36) nanocages without clustering, and up to two H₂ molecules can bind to each Li atom with an average binding energy of 0.145, 0.154, 0.102 eV/H₂ in the Li_n(AlN)_n (n = 12, 24, 36) nanocages, respectively. Both the polarization of the H₂ molecules and the hybridization of the Li-2p orbitals with the H-s orbitals contribute to the H₂ adsorption on the Li atoms. Thus, the Li-decorated (AlN)_n (n = 12, 24, 36) nanocages can store hydrogen up to 7.7 wt%, approaching the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) target of 9 wt% by the year 2015, and the average binding energies of H₂ molecules lying in the range of 0.1–0.2 eV/H₂ are favorable for the reversible hydrogen adsorption/desorption at ambient conditions. It is also pointed out that when allowed to interact with each other, the agglomeration of Li-decorated (AlN)_n nanocages would lower the hydrogen storage capacity.     

Li-decorated B2O as potential candidates for hydrogen storage: A DFT simulations study

Two-dimensional (2D) B₂O monolayer is considered as a potential hydrogen storage material owing to its lower mass density and high surface-to-volume ratio. The binding between H₂ molecules and B₂O monolayer proceeds through physisorption and the interaction is very weak, it is important to improve it through appropriate materials design. In this work, based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we have investigated the hydrogen storage properties of Lithium (Li) functionalized B₂O monolayer. The B₂O monolayer decorated by Li atoms can effectively improve the hydrogen storage capacity. It is found that each Li atom on B₂O monolayer can adsorb up to four H₂ molecules with a desirable average adsorption energy (E_ave) of 0.18 eV/H₂. In the case of fully loaded, forming B₃₂O₁₆Li₉H₇₂ compound, the hydrogen storage density is up to 9.8 wt%. Additionally, ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) calculations results show that Li-decorated B₂O monolayer has good reversible adsorption performance for H₂ molecules. Furthermore, the Bader charge and density of states (DOS) analysis demonstrate H₂ molecules are physically absorbed on the Li atoms via the electrostatic interactions. This study suggests that Li-decorated B₂O monolayer can be a promising hydrogen storage material.     

Complex interaction of hydrogen with the monolayer TiS2 decorated with Li and Li2O clusters: an ab initio random structure searching approach

We have applied ab initio random structure searching to study the structure, stability and hydrogen storage properties of monolayer TiS₂ coated with Li and small Li₂O clusters. For the low Li covered system we found a complex adsorption mechanism: some hydrogen molecules were adsorbed due to polarization with Li, others due to polarization with S near the surface of TiS₂. The peculiarities of the interaction of the H₂ molecules with each other and the preferred adsorption sites allowed us to formulate a series of recommendations that can be useful when selecting the material for the most effective support. Moreover, the findings also show that the storage capacity of this system can reach up to 9.63 wt%, presenting a good potential as hydrogen storage material. As for the Li₂O clusters supported on TiS₂, we found that the polarization of the Li–O bond increases upon the adsorption of the Li₂O nanocluster. Moreover, the polarized Li–S bonds appear in addition to the already existing Li–O bonds. All this is possible due to the extraction of 1.46 electrons from the S atom of the substrate by O atom of the cluster, and should contribute to an increase in both the adsorption energy and the maximum capacity. The adsorption energies of H₂ for the systems studied here are within 0.11–0.16 eV/H₂ which is a recommended range for reversible hydrogen physisorption under standard test conditions. This study may stimulate experimental efforts to check the claims of high-capacity, stable and reversible hydrogen adsorption reported here.     

Hydrogen storage capacity and reversibility of Li-decorated B4CN3 monolayer revealed by first-principles calculations

This work explored the feasibility of Li decoration on the B₄CN₃ monolayer for hydrogen (H₂) storage performance using first-principles calculations. The results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed that each Li atom decorated on the B₄CN₃ monolayer can physically adsorb four H₂ molecules with an average adsorption energy of ?0.23 eV/H₂, and the corresponding theoretical gravimetric density could reach as high as 12.7 wt%. Moreover, the H₂ desorption behaviors of Li-decorated B₄CN₃ monolayer at temperatures of 100, 200, 300 and 400 K were simulated via molecular dynamics (MD) methods. The results showed that the structure was stable within the prescribed temperature range, and a large amount of H₂ could be released at 300 K, indicative of the reversibility of hydrogen storage. The above findings demonstrate that the Li-decorated B₄CN₃ monolayer can serve as a favorable candidate material for high-capacity reversible hydrogen storage application.     

Li decorated penta-silicene as a high capacity hydrogen storage material: A density functional theory study

The H₂ adsorption characteristics of Li decorated single-sided and double-sided penta-silicene are predicted via density functional theory (DFT). The orbital hybridization results in Li atom strongly bind onto the surface of the penta-silicene with a large binding energy and it keeps the decorated Li atoms from aggregation. Moreover, Li decorated double-sided penta-silicene can store up to 12H₂ molecules with the average hydrogen adsorption energy of ?0.220 eV/H₂ and hydrogen uptake capacity of 6.42 wt%, respectively. The ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations demonstrate the H₂ molecules are released gradually from the substrate material with the increasing simulation time and the calculated desorption temperature T_D is 281 K in the suitable operating temperature range. Our explorations confirm that Li decorated penta-silicene can be regarded as a promising hydrogen storage candidate for hydrogen storage applications.     

Hydrogen adsorption and storage behaviors of Li-decorated PdS2 monolayer: An extended tight-binding study based on DFT

The hydrogen adsorption and storage of the lithium-decorated PdS₂ monolayer at nano-size has been investigated by using extended tight-binding (GFN1-xTB) based on density functional theory (DFT). The calculation results demonstrate that the average adsorption energies of 1–5H₂ change in 0.47–0.20 eV/H₂ range which decreases with increasing of adsorbed hydrogen molecule number. The gravimetric density for hydrogen storage adsorption with 12Li atom and 60H₂ molecules of Li-decorated PdS₂ monolayer is about 6.98 wt% considered as possible application in hydrogen storage. The examination of the hydrogen store mechanism between the monolayer and hydrogen molecules is presented by polarization between Pd and H₂, which can be effect on the adsorption behavior.     

A density functional theory and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations study the hydrogen storage on the Li-decorated net-τ

To find ideal hydrogen storage media, hydrogen storage performance of Li decorated net-τ has been investigated by first-principles calculations. Maximum 6 Li atoms are adsorbed on net-τ, with the average binding energy of 2.15 eV for per Li atom. Based on 6Li-decorated net-τ, up to twenty H₂ molecules are adsorbed, with a high H₂ storage capacity of 12.52 wt% and an appropriate adsorption energy of 0.21 eV/H₂. Finally, H₂ uptake performance is measured by GCMC simulations. Our results suggest that Li-decorated net-τ may be a promising hydrogen storage medium under realistic conditions.     

Theoretical studies on hydrogen adsorption properties of lithium decorated diborene (B2H4Li2) and diboryne (B2H2Li2)

Using ab initio based quantum chemical calculations, we have studied the structure, stability and hydrogen adsorption properties of different boron hydrides decorated with lithium, examples of the corresponding anions being dihydrodiborate dianion, B₂H₂²⁻ and tetrahydrodiborate dianion, B₂H₄²⁻ which can be considered to be analogues and isoelectronic to acetylene (C₂H₂) and ethelene (C₂H₄) respectively. It is shown that there exists a B-B double bond in B₂H₄Li₂ and a B-B triple bond in B₂H₂Li₂. In both the complexes, the lithium sites are found to be cationic in nature and the calculated lithium ion binding energies are found to be very high. The cationic sites in these complexes are found to interact with molecular hydrogen through ion-quadrupole and ion-induced dipole interactions. In both the complexes, each lithium site is found to bind a maximum of three hydrogen molecules which corresponds to a gravimetric density of ∼23 wt% in B₂H₄Li₂ and ∼24 wt% in B₂H₂Li₂. We have also studied the hydrogen adsorption in a model one-dimensional nanowire with C₆H₄B₂Li₂ as the repeating unit and found that it can adsorb hydrogen to the extent 9.68 wt% and the adsorption energy is found to be −2.34 kcal/mol per molecular hydrogen.     

A reversible hydrogen storage material of Li-decorated two-dimensional (2D) C4N monolayer: First principles calculations

Two-dimensional (2D) materials can be regarded as potential hydrogen storage candidates because of their splendid chemical stability and high specific surface area. Recently, a new dumbbell-like carbon nitride (C₄N) monolayer with orbital hybridization of sp³ is reported. Motivated from the above exploration, the hydrogen adsorption properties of Li-decorated C₄N monolayer are comprehensively investigated via first principles calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT). It is found that the Dirac points and Dirac cones exists in the Brillouin zone (BZ) from the calculated electronic structure and indicates the C₄N can be used as an excellent topological material. Also, the calculated phonon spectra demonstrate that the C₄N monolayer owns a strong stability. Moreover, the calculated binding energy of decorated Li atom is bigger than its cohesive energy and results in Li atoms disperse over the surface of C₄N monolayer uniformly without clustering. In addition, the Li₈C₄N complex can capture up to 24H₂ molecules with an optimal hydrogen adsorption energy of −0.281 eV/H₂ and achieves the hydrogen storage density of 8.0 wt%. The ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations suggest that the H₂ molecules can be desorbed quickly at 300 K. This study reveals that Li-decorated C₄N monolayer can be served as a promising hydrogen storage material.     

A novel lithium decorated N-doped 4,6,8-biphenylene for reversible hydrogen storage: Insights from density functional theory

Two-dimensional (2D) carbon-based (C-based) and carbon-nitrogen (C–N) materials have great potential in the energy harvest and storage fields. We investigate a novel carbon biphenylene (C468) consisting of four-, six- and eight-membered rings of sp² carbon atoms (Fan et al., Science, 372:852-6 (2021)) for hydrogen storage. Using first-principles based Density functional theory calculations, we study the geometrical and electronic properties of C468 and N-doped C468. Lithium (Li) atoms were symmetrically adsorbed on both sides of the substrate, and their adsorption positions were determined. The maximum gravimetric density of hydrogen (H₂) adsorbed symmetrically on both sides of Li atom was studied within the scope of physical adsorption process (−0.2 eV/H₂ ∼ −0.6 eV/H₂). Li-decorated C468 can adsorb 8 upper hydrogen molecules and 8 lower hydrogen molecules, and Li-decorated N-doped C468 can adsorb 9 upper hydrogen molecules and 9 lower hydrogen molecules. The gravimetric densities of Li-decorated C468 and Li-decorated N-doped C468 can reach 9.581 wt% and 10.588 wt%, respectively. Our findings suggest significant insights for using Li-decorated C468 and Li-decorated N-doped C468 as hydrogen storage candidates and effectively expand the application scope of C-based materials and C–N materials.     

Bare and Ni decorated Al12N12 cage for hydrogen storage: A first-principles study

Using density functional theory we have investigated the feasibility of bare and Ni decorated Al₁₂N₁₂ cages for hydrogen storage. In the bare Al₁₂N₁₂ cage, each Al atom is capable of adsorption one H₂ in molecular form with the average adsorption energy of −0.165 eV. In addition, it is shown that hydrogen prefers to remain inside the Al₁₂N₁₂ cage with molecular form. In the Ni decorated Al₁₂N₁₂ cage, the most stable site for Ni atom is the bridge site over the Al–N bond shared by the six-membered rings (BH site) out of the cage. Ni atom of the NiAl₁₂N₁₂ cage has been found to adsorb up to three hydrogen molecules. It is demonstrated that up to 20 hydrogen molecules can be stored on the exterior surface and inside of the NiAl₁₂N₁₂ cage with total gravimetric density of 6.8 wt%. As the weight percentage hydrogen storage is increasing to 6.5 wt%, the minimum value of the Gibbs free energy becomes positive at 25 K. It indicates that high weight percentage hydrogen storage cannot be achieved in NiAl₁₂N₁₂ cages.     

Lithium clusters on graphene surface and their ability to adsorb hydrogen molecules

This research describes the theoretical study of the adsorption of lithium clusters on graphene and the ability to capture hydrogen molecules. The results of the studied structures showed that the [Li₁C₅₄H₁₈]⁺ system is capable of accepting three hydrogen molecules showing adsorption energies of 0.12 eV. On the other hand, it is important to note that in [Li_nC₅₄H₁₈] n = 2–6 systems, the lithium atoms that do not interact with the graphene surface, they can adsorb up to four hydrogen molecules. The [Li₆C₅₄H₁₈]4H₂ system presented a higher adsorption energy value of 0.31 eV. Finally, the Li–H₂ interactions were characterized by a NBO analysis, which showed that hydrogen atoms are the donors and lithium atoms are the acceptors.     

Ultra-high capacity hydrogen storage of B6Be2 and B8Be2 clusters

The B₆Be₂ and B₈Be₂ clusters, adopting fascinating inverse sandwich-like geometries, were recently predicted with quantum chemical calculations. Both systems exhibit the high stability and double aromaticity with 4σ/6π or 6σ/6π delocalized electrons. The hydrogen storage of two systems is studied in the present paper. Our calculations show that B₆Be₂ and B₈Be₂ clusters have the ultra-high capacity hydrogen storage, each Be site can bound up with seven H₂ molecules, corresponding to a gravimetric density of 25.3 wt percentage (wt%) for B₆Be₂ and 21.1 wt% for B₈Be₂, respectively, which far exceeds the target (5.5 wt%) proposed by the US department of energy (DOE) in 2017. The average absorption energies of 0.10–0.45 eV/H₂ for B₆Be₂ and 0.11–0.50 eV/H₂ for B₈Be₂ at the wB97XD level suggest that both systems are ideal for reversible hydrogen storage and release. The reversibility of H₂ molecules on B₆Be₂ and B₈Be₂ complexes are faithfully demonstrated with the Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics (BOMD) simulations. The Be-doped boron nanostructure is a promising candidate for ultra-high hydrogen storage materials.     

Lithium decoration of boron-doped hybrid fullerenes and nanotubes as a novel 3D architecture for enhanced hydrogen storage: A DFT study

A three dimensional (3D) dumbbell-like nanostructure composed by interconnected fullerenes and nanotubes with Lithium decoration and boron-doping (37Li@C₁₃₉B₃₁) has been proposed in virtue of density functional theory (DFT) and first-principles molecular dynamics (MD) simulations which shows excellent geometric and thermal stability. First-principles calculations are performed to investigate the hydrogen adsorption onto the 37Li@C₁₃₉B₃₁. The results indicate that B substitution can improve the metal binding and the average binding energy of 37 adsorbed Li atoms on the C₁₃₉B₃₁ (2.79 eV) is higher than the cohesive energy of bulk Li (1.63 eV) suppressing the clustering. Meanwhile, the H₂ storage gravimetric density of 178H₂@37Li@C₁₃₉B₃₁ reaches up to 15.9 wt% higher than the year 2020 target from the US department of energy (DOE). The average adsorption energy of H₂ molecules falls in a desirable range of 0.18–0.27 eV. Moreover, grand canonical ensemble Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations reveal that at room temperature the hydrogen gravimetric density (HGD) adsorbed on 37Li@C₁₃₉B₃₁ reaches up to 11.6 wt% at 100 bars higher than the DOE 2020 target. Our multiscale simulations indicate that our proposed nanostructure provides a promising medium for hydrogen storage.     

Electronic structure and hydrogen storage properties of Li–decorated single layer blue phosphorus

Single layer blue phosphorus (SLBP) is a promising two–dimensional material for nanoelectronic devices, but the electronic structure and hydrogen storage property of modified SLBP received little attention. Li atoms can be strongly bonded on SLBP in a 1:1 Li/P ratio with a binding energy larger than the cohesive energy of bulk Li. The geometric structure of SLBP suggests the 3s3p orbitals of the P atom hybridize in sp³ manner. But our analyses show that the 3s and 3p orbitals form bonding and antibonding orbitals respectively. The 3s orbitals are fully occupied as they have much lower energies, and the bonding orbitals formed by P 3p are occupied in pure SLBP. The decorated Li atoms transfer their 2s electrons to the antibonding orbital formed by P 3p. The Li atoms exist as +1 cations and they are ionically bonded on SLBP. H₂ molecules adsorbed on the Li⁺ cations are strongly polarized and form strong adsorption. When two H₂ are adsorbed on each Li atom decorated at the 1:1 Li/P ratio, the hydrogen storage capacity reaches 9.52 wt% but the H₂ molecules are arranged in two layers with the adsorption energy ?0.168 eV/H₂. When the Li atoms are decorated alternatively on the two sides of the P₆ rings with a Li/P ratio of 1:2, each Li atom can absorb two H₂ molecules in a single–layer; the hydrogen storage capacity is 5.48 wt% and the adsorption energy reaches ?0.227 eV/H₂. These results mean the Li–decorated SLBP can work at ambient temperature with high reversible hydrogen storage capacity.