Nanostructured Bi2Te3 as anode material as well as a destabilizing agent for LiBH4

Lithium borohydride, a well known complex hydride with its high hydrogen capacity, has shown its application as a solid electrolyte for Li-ion battery. It has been employed as a solid electrolyte with Bi2Te3 nanosheets as anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The Bi2Te3 nanosheets were synthesized by the solvothermal method with an average crystallite size of 55 nm as calculated by Debye Scherrer formula. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments reveal the morphology of the prepared sample as hexagonal nanosheets with the thickness in the range of 20-40 nm. Initial discharge and charge capacity of the negative electrode is found to be 555 mAhg(-1) & 1290 mAhg(-1) using galvanostatic charge-discharge analyzer at a rate of 0.1C. During the electrochemical charging-discharging experiment, strange but interesting gas evolution was observed, which resulted in the opening of the cell. The careful inves- tigation of this reaction using TG/MS suggest the destabilization of LiBH4. The thermal dehydrogenation analysis depicts that the LiBH4-Bi2Te3 nanosheets composite starts to desorb hydrogen at 61 degrees C with a total of 9% weight loss. The above destabilization is investigated using XRD and XPS experiments and the detailed mechanism is proposed herein. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.