The destabilization of LiBH4 through the addition of Bi2Se3 nanosheets

Efficient storage of hydrogen is a key issue to establish hydrogen infrastructure. In the efforts of searching suitable hydrogen storage alloys, several systems have been explored so far. All of them suffers from some drawbacks such as low gravimetric capacity, high stability, slow sorption kinetics, etc. Lithium borohydride (LiBH₄) is one of the leading contender among the hydrogen storage materials owing to its high hydrogen content of 18.5 wt%. However, its high stability needs a high operating temperature (>450 °C) for the decomposition. Recently, a thermochemical reaction between Bi₂X₃ and LiBH₄ was observed at 120 °C while performing experiments on the anode properties of Bi₂X₃ (X = S, Se, & Te) for Li-ion batteries. This indicated the possibility of destabilization of LiBH₄ and its low-temperature decomposition. This work presents the effect of Bi₂Se₃ addition to the decomposition properties of LiBH₄ using XRD and XPS techniques. The first step decomposition was observed to be initiated at around 180 °C, which is much lower than 450 °C for the pristine LiBH₄. A further reduction in the onset temperature is observed when the bulk Bi₂Se₃ is replaced by the nanosheets of this material. The mechanism of this destabilization is reported herein.