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Enhancing the Regeneration Process of Consumed NaBH 4 for Hydrogen Storage
Author(s) -
Ouyang Liuzhang,
Chen Wei,
Liu Jiangwen,
Felderhoff Michael,
Wang Hui,
Zhu Min
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
advanced energy materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.08
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1614-6840
pISSN - 1614-6832
DOI - 10.1002/aenm.201700299
Subject(s) - sodium borohydride , hydrogen storage , materials science , regeneration (biology) , hydrolysis , hydrogen , borohydride , sodium , reducing agent , chemical engineering , process (computing) , inorganic chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , catalysis , metallurgy , computer science , engineering , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , operating system
Sodium borohydride (NaBH 4 ) is regarded as an excellent hydrogen‐generated material, but its irreversibility of hydrolysis and high cost of regeneration restrict its large‐scale application. In this study a convenient and economical method for NaBH 4 regeneration is developed for the first time without hydrides used as starting materials for the reduction process. The real hydrolysis by‐products (NaBO 2 · 2H 2 O and NaBO 2 · 4H 2 O), instead of dehydrated sodium metaborate (NaBO 2 ), are applied for the regeneration of NaBH 4 with Mg at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the troublesome heat‐wasting process to obtain NaBO 2 using a drying procedure at over 350 °C from NaBO 2 · x H 2 O is omitted. Moreover, the highest regeneration yields of NaBH 4 are achieved to date with 68.55% and 64.06% from reaction with NaBO 2 · 2H 2 O and NaBO 2 · 4H 2 O, respectively. The cost of NaBH 4 regeneration shows a 34‐fold reduction compared to the previous study that uses MgH 2 as the reduction agent, where H 2 is obtained from a separate process. Furthermore, the regeneration mechanism of NaBH 4 is clarified and the intermediate compound, NaBH 3 (OH), is successfully observed for the first time during the regeneration process.