Formation mechanism of MgB2 in 2LiBH4 + MgH2 system for reversible hydrogen storage

The formation conditions of MgB2 in 2LiBH4 + MgH2 system during dehydrogenation were investigated and its mechanism was discussed. The results show that direct decomposition of LiBH4 is suppressed under relative higher initial dehydrogenation pressure of 4.0×105 Pa, wherein LiBH4 reacts with Mg to yield MgB2, and 9.16% (mass fraction) hydrogen is released within 9.6 h at 450 °C. However, under relatively lower initial dehydrogenation pressure of 1.0×102 Pa, LiBH4 decomposes independently instead of reacting with Mg, resulting in no formation of MgB2, and 7.91% hydrogen is desorbed within 5.2 h at 450 °C. It is found that the dehydrogenation of 2LiBH4 + MgH2 system proceeds more completely and more hydrogen desorption amount can be obtained within a definite time by forming MgB2. Furthermore, it is proposed that the formation process of MgB2 includes incubation period and nucleus growth process. Experimental results show that the formation process of MgB2, especially the incubation period, is promoted by increasing initial dehydrogenation pressure at constant temperature, and the incubation period is also influenced greatly by dehydrogenation temperature.