Enhanced Low-Temperature Hydrogen Storage in Nanoporous Ni-Based Alloy Supported LiBH 4 .

To reveal the synergistic effect of nanoconfinement and metallic catalysis on the hydrogen storage properties of LiBH4, the nanoporous Ni-based alloy (np-Ni) was prepared herein by dealloying of the Mn70Ni30 alloy in (NH4)(2)SO4 solution, and then LiBH4 was loaded into np-Ni to construct the LiBH4/np-Ni hydrogen storage system using wet impregnation. It was found that dehydrogenation of the LiBH4/np-Ni (1:5) system starts at around 70 degrees C and ends before 400 degrees C, with similar to 11.9 wt.% of hydrogen desorbed. The apparent dehydrogenation activation energy for the LiBH4/np-Ni (1:5) system was remarkable decreased to about 11.4 kJ/mol. After rehydrogenation at 450 degrees C under 8 MPa hydrogen pressure, similar to 8.2 wt.% of hydrogen can be released from about 60 degrees C upon second dehydrogenation. These obtained results would provide an efficient strategy for improving the hydrogen storage properties of other metal borohydrides.