Recent advances on surface metal hydrides studied by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Metal hydrides (MeH) on solid surfaces, i.e., surface MeH, are ubiquitous but criticalspecies in heterogeneous catalysis, and their intermediate roles have been proposed innumerous reactions such as (de)hydrogenation and alkanes activation, etc., however, thedetailed spectroscopic characterizations remain challenging. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) spectroscopy has become a powerful tool in surface studies, asit provides access to local structural characterizations at atomic level from multipleviews, with comprehensive information on chemical bonding and spatial structures. Inthis review, we summarized and discussed the latest research developments on thesuccessful application of ssNMR to characterize surface MeH species on solid catalystsincluding supported single-site heterogeneous catalysts, bulk metal oxides and metalmodified zeolites. We also discussed the opportunities and challenges in this field, aswell as the potential application/development of state-of-the-art ssNMR technologies toenable further exploration of metal hydrides in heterogeneous catalysis.

Some Rare Earth Metallic Organohydrides with Biindenyl as the Ligand

Introduction It is well known that organometallic hydrides of rare earth metals are the catalysts and reducing reagents for the catalysis polymerization of alkenes and the catalysis hydrogenation of alkenoalkynes. There are four methods for the syntheses of organometallic hydrides of rare earth metals:（1） the thermal atomization of metals, i.e., the interaction of a rare earth metal with alkenes with a terminal alkyne;（2） the Ln—Cσ bond is broken with H;;（3） metal-

The development of metal hydrides using as concentrating solar thermal storage materials

Metal hydrides high temperature thermal heat storage technique has great promising future prospects in solar power generation, industrial waste heat utilization and peak load regulating of power system. This article introduces basic principle of metal hydrides for thermal storage, and summarizes developments in advanced metal hydrides high-temperature thermal storage materials, numerical simulation and thermodynamic calculation in thermal storage systems, and metal hydrides thermal storage prototypes. Finally, the future metal hydrides high temperature thermal heat storage technique is been looked ahead.

A 38 MPa Compressor Based on Metal Hydrides

Known as one of the most promising application of metal hydride(MH),the MH compressor can afford hydrogen with high pressure and high purity.Two AB5 type multi-component hydrogen storage alloys and vanadium are studied for the purpose of high pressure compression.A compact compression system has been built.Each designed small-size reactor contains seven special stainless-steel pipes.The single stage compressor can improve the hydrogen pressure from 2 up to 35 MPa with the hydrogen desorbed per unit mass of 207.8 mL/g.The two-stage compression can output hydrogen with pressure of 38 MPa steadily in whole 5.7 mol hydrogen output flow.However,its hydrogen desorbed per unit mass was only computed to 106.9 mL/g as a result of two reactors used in the cycle and the output mass of hydrogen increased less.

Degradation Behavior of Electrochemical Performance of Sealed-Type Nickel/Metal Hydride Batteries

The degradation mechanism of electrochemical performance of sealed type nickel/metal hydride batteries was investigated. The results indicate that the degradation behavior of Ni/MH battery is not only owing to the lack of electrolyte, but also the deterioration of the active materials on the positive and negative electrodes of Ni/MH batteries. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM), X ray diffraction (XRD) and laser granularity analyses are presented. The particle pulverization and oxidation during charge/discharge are identified as the main causes for deterioration of the negative and positive electrode in nickel/metal hydride batteries, as well as the cross section cracking of both anode and cathode.

The electrochemical characteristics of AB_(4)-type rare earth-Mg-Ni-based superlattice structure hydrogen storage alloys for nickel metal hydride battery

Rare earth-Mg-Ni-based alloys with superlattice structures are new generation negative electrode materials for the nickel metal hydride batteries.Among them,the novel AB_(4)-type superlattice structure alloy is supposed to have superior cycling stability and rate capability.Yet its preparation is hindered by the crucial requirement of temperature and the special composition which is close to the other superlattice structure.Here,we prepare rare earth-Mg-Ni-based alloy and study the phase transformation of alloys to make clear the formation of AB_(4)-type phase.It is found Pr_(5)Co_(19)-type phase is converted from Ce_(5)Co_(19)-type phase and shows good stability at higher temperature compared to the Ce_(5)Co_(19)-type phase in the range of 930-970℃.Afterwards,with further 5℃increasing,AB_(4)-type superlattice structure forms at a temperature of 975℃by consuming Pr_(5)Co_(19)-type phase.In contrast with A_(5)B_(19)-type alloy,AB_(4)-type alloy has superior rate capability owing to the dominant advantages of charge transfer and hydrogen diffusion.Besides,AB_(4)-type alloy shows long lifespan whose capacity retention rates are 89.2%at the 100;cycle and 82.8%at the 200;cycle,respectively.AB_(4)-type alloy delivers 1.53 wt.%hydrogen storage capacity at room temperature and exhibits higher plateau pressure than Pr_(5)Co_(19)-type alloy.The work provides novel AB_(4)-type alloy with preferable electrochemical performance as negative electrode material to inspire the development of nickel metal hydride batteries.

Development and experimental validation of kinetic models for the hydrogenation/dehydrogenation of Mg/Al based metal waste for energy storage

With the increased use of renewable energy sources,the need to store large amounts of energy will become increasingly important in the near future.A cost efficient possibility is to use the reaction of recycled Mg waste with hydrogen as thermo-chemical energy storage.Owing to the high reaction enthalpy,the moderate pressure and appropriate temperature conditions,the broad abundance and the recyclability,the Mg/Al alloy is perfectly suitable for this purpose.As further development of a previous work,in which the performance of recycled Mg/Al waste was presented,a kinetic model for hydro-and dehydrogenation is derived in this study.Temperature and pressure dependencies are determined,as well as the rate limiting step of the reaction.First experiments are carried out in an autoclave with a scaled-up powder mass,which is also used to validate the model by simulating the geometry with the scaled-up experiments at different conditions.

Hydrogen storage over alkali metal hydride and alkali metal hydroxide composites

Alkali metal hydroxide and hydride composite systems contain both protic （H bonded with O） and hydridic hydrogen. The interaction of these two types of hydrides produces hydrogen. The enthalpy of dehydrogenation increased with the increase of atomic number of alkali metals, i.e., -23 kJ/molnz for LiOH-LiH, 55.34 kJ/moln： for NaOH-NaH and 222 kJ/molH2 for KOH-KH. These thermodynamic calculation results were consistent with our experimental results. H2 was released from LiOH-LiH system during ball milling. The dehydrogenation temperature of NaOH-NaH system was about 150 ℃; whereas KOH and KH did not interact with each other during the heating process. Instead, KH decomposed by itself. In these three systems, NaOH-NaH was the only reversible hydrogen storage system, the enthalpy of dehydrogenation was about 55.65 kJ/molHz, and the corresponding entropy was ca. 101.23 J/（molHz .K）, so the temperature for releasing 1.0 bar H2 was as high as 518 ℃, showing unfavorable thermodynamic properties. The activation energy for hydrogen desorption of NaOH-NaH was found to be 57.87 kJ/mol, showing good kinetic properties.

MICROSTRUCTURE AND ELECTROCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF Zr_(0.9)Ti_(0.1)(Ni_(1.1)Mn_(0.7)V_(0.2))_x METAL HYDRIDE ELECTRODE

The crystal structure, the phase composition and the electrochemical characteristics of Zr0.9Ti0.1(Ni1.1Mn0.7V0.2)x (x=0.90, 0.95, 1.00, 1.05) alloys were investigated by means of XRD, SEM, EDS and electrochemical measurements. It was shown that all alloys are multiphase with C15 Laves phase as a main phase along with C14 phase and some secondary phases. And the amounts of the C14 phase and secondary phases in the four alloys increases with decreasing x. The results indicated that the various stoichiometric ratios have great effects on the electrochemical characteristics such as the maximum discharge capacity, discharge rate capability and self-discharge properties etc. for Zr0.9Ti0.1(Ni1.1Mn0.7 V0.2)X (x=0.90, 0.95, 1.00, 1.05) alloys. The hyper-stoichiometric Zr0.9 Ti0.1(N1.1Mn0.7 V0.20)1.05 exhibits the maximum discharge capacity of 332mAh-g-1. The C14 phase and secondary phases seems to improve discharge rate capability of the alloys.

Ab initio study of H and He migrations in β-phase Sc,Y,and Er hydrides

Ab initio calculations based on the density functional theory have been performed to investigate the migrations of hydrogen（H） and helium（He） atoms in β-phase scandium（Sc）,yttrium（Y）,and erbium（Er） hydrides with three different ratios of H to metal.The results show that the migration mechanisms of H and He atoms mainly depend on the crystal structures of hydrides,but their energy barriers are affected by the host-lattice in metal hydrides.The formation energies of octahedral-occupancy H（H oct） and tetrahedral vacancy（V tet） pairs are almost the same（about 1.2 eV）.It is of interest to note that the migration barriers of H increase with increasing host-lattice atomic number.In addition,the results show that the favorable migration mechanism of He depends slightly on the V tet in the Sc hydride,but strongly on that in the Y and Er hydrides,which may account for different behaviours of initial He release from ScT2 and ErT2.

Research on MetalHydride Compressor System

TiZr series Laves phase hydrogen storage alloys with good hydrogen storage properties, such as large hydrogen capacity, rapid hydriding and dehydriding rate, high compression ratio, gentle plateau, small hysteresis, easily being activated and long cyclic stability etc. for metal hydride compressor have been investigated. In addition, a hydride compressor with special characteristics, namely, advanced filling method, good heat transfer effect and reasonable structural design etc. has also been constructed. A hydride compressor cryogenic system has been assembled coupling the compressor with a JT microthrottling refrigeration device and its cooling capacity can reach 0.4 W at 25 K.

High Purity Hydrogen Production by Metal Hydride System:A Parametric Study Based on the Lumped Parameter Model

The simulation of hydrogen purification in a mixture gas of hydrogen/carbon dioxide (H2/CO2) by metal hydride system was reported.The lumped parameter model was developed and validated.The validated model was implemented on the software Matlab/Simulink to simulate the present investigation.The simulation results demonstrate that the purification efficiency depends on the external pressure and the venting time.An increase in the external pressure and enough venting time makes it possible to effectively remove the impurities from the tank during the venting process and allows to desorb pure hydrogen.The impurities are partially removed from the tank for low external pressure and venting time during the venting process and the desorbed hydrogen is contaminated.Other parameters such as the overall heat transfer coefficient,solid material mass,supply pressure,and the ambient temperature influence the purification system in terms of the hydrogen recovery rate.An increase in the overall heat transfer coefficient,solid material mass,and supply pressure improves the hydrogen recovery rate while a decrease in the ambient temperature enhances the recovery rate.

Effect of Overcharge on Electrochemical Performance of Sealed-Type Nickel/Metal Hydride Batteries

The effects of overcharge on electrochemical performance of AA size sealed-type nickel/metal hydride（Ni/MH） batteries and its degradation mechanism were investigated. The results indicated that the relationship between the effects of different overcharge currents on the increasing velocity of inner pressure and the degradation velocity of cycle life and discharge voltage remains in almost direct proportion. After overcharge cycles, the positive electrode materials remain the original structure, but there occur some breaks because of the irreversible expand of crystal lattice. And the negative electrode alloy particles have inconspicuous pulverization, but are covered with lots of corrosive products and its main component is rare earth hydroxide or oxide. These are all the main reasons leading to the degradation behavior of the discharge capacity and cycle life of Ni/MH batteries.

Growth of a-Plane GaN Films on r-Plane Sapphire by Combining Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy with the Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy

Hydride vapor phase epitaxy （HVPE） is utilized to grow nonpolar a-plane GaN layers on r-plane sapphire templates prepared by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy （MOVPE）. The surface morphology and microstructures of the samples are characterized by atomic force microscopy. The full width at half maximum （FWHM） of the HVPE sample shows a W-shape and that of the MOVPE sample shows an M-shape plane with the degree of 0 in the high-resolution x-ray diffraction （HRXRD） results. The surface morphology attributes to this significant anisotropic. HRXRD reveals that there is a significant reduction in the FWHM, both on-axis and off-axis for HVPE GaN are compared with the MOVPE template. The decrease of the FWHM of E2 （high） Raman scat tering spectra further indicates the improvement of crystal quality after HVPE. By comparing the results of secondary- ion-mass spectroscope and photoluminescence spectrum of the samples grown by HVPE and MOVPE, we propose that C-involved defects are originally responsible for the yellow luminescence.

Kinetics of the hydrogen absorption and desorption processes of hydrogen storage alloys: A review

High hydrogen absorption and desorption rates are two significant index parameters for the applications of hydrogen storage tanks.The analysis of the hydrogen absorption and desorption behavior using the isothermal kinetic models is an efficient way to investigate the kinetic mechanism.Multitudinous kinetic models have been developed to describe the kinetic process.However,these kinetic models were de-duced based on some assumptions and only appropriate for specific kinetic measurement methods and rate-controlling steps(RCSs),which sometimes lead to confusion during application.The kinetic analysis procedures using these kinetic models,as well as the key kinetic parameters,are unclear for many researchers who are unfamiliar with this field.These problems will prevent the kinetic models and their analysis methods from revealing the kinetic mechanism of hydrogen storage alloys.Thus,this review mainly focuses on the summarization of kinetic models based on different kinetic measurement methods and RCSs for the chemisorption,surface penetration,diffusion of hydrogen,nucleation and growth,and chemical reaction processes.The analysis procedures of kinetic experimental data are expounded,as well as the effects of temperature,hydrogen pressure,and particle radius.The applications of the kinetic models for different hydrogen storage alloys are also introduced.

Mg-based materials for hydrogen storage

Over the last decade’s magnesium and magnesium based compounds have been intensively investigated as potential hydrogen storage as well as thermal energy storage materials due to their abundance and availability as well as their extraordinary high gravimetric and volumetric storage densities.This review work provides a broad overview of the most appealing systems and of their hydrogenation/dehydrogenation properties.Special emphasis is placed on reviewing the efforts made by the scientific community in improving the material’s thermodynamic and kinetic properties while maintaining a high hydrogen storage capacity.

Effect of praseodymium substitution for lanthanum on structure and properties of La_(0.65-x)Pr_xNd_(0.12)Mg_(0.23)Ni_(3.4)Al_(0.1)(x=0.00–0.20) hydrogen storage alloys

In order to investigate the effect of substituting La with Pr on structural and hydrogen storage properties of La-Mg-Ni system （AB3.5-type） hydrogen storage alloys, a series of La0.65-xPrxNd0.12Mg0.23Ni3.4Al0.1（x=0, 0.10, 0.15, 0.2） hydrogen storage alloys were prepared. X-ray diffraction （XRD）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and energy dispersive spectrometer （EDS） analyses revealed that two alloys （x=0.0 and 0.10） were composed of （La,Mg）2（Ni,Al）7 phase, La（Ni,A1）5 phase and （La,Mg）Ni2 phase, while other alloys （x=0.15 and 0.20） consisted of （La,Mg）2（Ni,A1）7 phase, La（Ni,A1）5 phase, （La,Mg）Ni2 phase and （La,Mg）（Ni,A1）3 phase. All alloys showed, however, only one pressure plateau in P-C isotherms. The Pr/La ratio in alloy composition influenced hydrogen storage capacity and kinetics properties. Electrochemical studies showed that the discharge capacity decreased from 360 mAh/g （x=-0.00） to 335 mAh/g （x=-0.20） as x increased. But the high-rate dischargeability （HRD） of alloy electrodes increased from 26% （x=0.00） to 56% （x=-0.20） at a discharge current density of Id=1800 mA/g. Anode polarization measurements were done to further understand the electrochemical kinetics properties after Pr substitution.

Effects of annealing on microstructures and electrochemical properties of La_(0.8)Mg_(0.2)Ni_(2.4)Mn_(0.10)Co_(0.55)Al_(0.10) alloy

The La0.8Mg0.2Ni2.4Mn0.10Co0.55Al0.10 alloy was prepared by induction melting. The structural and morphological characterizations were performed by means of X-ray powder diffraction （XRD） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The electrochemical measurements were performed using LAND and CH/660b electrochemical workstation. The main phases of the alloy were LaNi5 and （La,Mg）Ni3. After annealing, the maximum discharge capacity, cycle stability and high rate dischargeability （HRD） were improved obviously. The maximum discharge capacity reached 373.80 mAh/g （T=1173 K）, the C100/Cmax（%） was 72.63% （T=1173 K）, and the value of HRD reached 51.8% at a discharge current density of 1150 mA/g （T=1173 K）. The cyclic voltammetry （CV） and potentiodynamic polarization were also studied.

Electronic structure and optical properties of LiXH_3 and XLiH_3 (X = Be, B or C)

The equilibrium lattice constant, the cohesive energy and the electronic properties of light metal hydrides LiXH3 and XLiH3 （X = Be, B or C） with perovskite lattice structures have been investigated by using the pseudopotential plane-wave method. Large energy gap of LiBeH3 indicates that it is insulating, but other investigated hydrides are metallic. The pressure-induced metallization of LiBeH3 is found at about 120 GPa, which is attributed to the increase of Be-p electrons with pressure. The electronegativity of the p electrons of X atom is responsible for the metallicity of the investigated LiXH3 hydrides, but the electronegativity of the s electrons of X atom plays an important role in the metallicity of the investigated XLiH3 hydrides. In order to deeply understand the investigated hydrides, their optical properties have also been investigated. The optical absorption of either LiBeH3 or BeLiH3 has a strong peak at about 5 eV, showing that their optical responses are qualitatively similar. It is also found that the optical responses of other investigated hydrides are stronger than those of LiBeH3 and BeLiH3 in lower energy ranges, especially in the case of CLiH3.

Strategies to enhance hydrogen storage performances in bulk Mg-based hydrides

Bulk Mg-based hydrogen storage materials have the potential to provide a low-cost solution to diversify energy storage and transportation.Compared to nano powders which require handling and processing under hydrogen or an inert gas atmosphere,bulk Mg-based alloys are safer and are more oxidation re-sistant.Conventional methods and existing infrastructures can be used to process and handle these ma-terials.However,bulk Mg alloys have smaller specific surface areas,resulting in slower hydrogen sorp-tion kinetics,higher equilibrium temperatures,and enthalpies of hydride formation.This work reviews the effects of the additions of a list of alloying elements and the use of innovative processing meth-ods,e.g.,rapid solidification and severe plastic deformation processes,to overcome these drawbacks.The challenges,advantages,and weaknesses of each method and future perspectives for the development of Mg-based hydrogen storage materials are discussed.