A synergistic effect between nanoconfinement of carbon aerogels and catalysis of CoNiB nanoparticles on dehydrogenation of LiBH4

A synergistic effect of nanoconfinement and catalyzing is a new strategy to enhance the dehydrogenation properties of complex hydrides. Herein, LiBH4 has been infiltrated into a CoNiB-loaded carbon aerogels system (donated as LiBH4@CA@CoNiB). It is found that the desorption performances of LiBH4 are significantly strengthened. The onset desorption temperature of LiBH4@CA@CoNiB is decreased to 192 degrees C, and majority of the liberation occurs at about 320 degrees C, much lower than that of pure LiBH4. Also, about 15.9 wt% H-2 could be released below 600 degrees C. Furthermore, LiBH4 doped with CA@CoNiB exhibits an excellent desorption kinetics, with a capacity of 9.33 wt% H-2 released in 30 min at 350 degrees C, while only 2.13 wt% H-2 is gained for bulk LiBH4. In addition, the apparent activation energy (Ea) is reduced sharply from 59.00 kJ/mol (pure LiBH4) to 46.39 kJ/mol. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC, Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.