Improved hydrogen sorption of sodium alanate by optimized processing

This work demonstrates that fast sorption kinetics in complex hydrides can be achieved by a simple synthesis method using cost-efficient initial components, if microstructure and powder morphology are optimized. NaH/Al precursors with TiCl4 catalyst were synthesised under varying conditions in argon atmosphere and cycled. The influence of powder morphology and microstructure resulting from different process conditions were studied in detail. It is shown that a homogeneous mixing of the phases and a high surface area of the material is essential for fast kinetics and high reversible capacity. The optimized process can be easily scaled up to a cost-efficient production process for large amounts of storage material and can also be applied for other complex hydrides.