Hydrogen generation from hydrolysis of MNH2BH3 and NH3BH3/MH (M = Li, Na) for fuel cells based unmanned submarine vehicles application

Hydrogen release from hydrolysis of LiNH2BH3, NaNH2BH3, LiH-NH3BH3 and NaH-NH3BH3 was investigated respectively in this paper. Their applications on man-free submarine vehicles were discussed in this paper. It is shown experimentally that LiNH2BH3 and NaNH2BH3 hydrolysis can release 3 equivalents of hydrogen at room temperature. Hydrolysis of LiNH2BH3 or NaNH2BH3 exhibits greatly improved kinetics in comparison with neat NH3BH3 hydrolysis. The mechanism of LiNH2BH3 and NaNH2BH3 hydrolysis is the combination of H+ and OH− ions of water with the polar ions of LiNH2BH3 and NaNH2BH3. The process of LiH-NH3BH3 and NaH-NH3BH3 hydrolysis involves the thermohydrolysis of NH3BH3. Our results present a novel noncatalytic method for hydrogen release from NH3BH3 by co-hydrolyzing it with other high exothermic hydrides, and also show a novel strategy to improve hydrogen release kinetics of LiNH2BH3 and NaNH2BH3. The hydrolyzing materials presented in this context are promising for use on fuel cells’ based vehicle.

► We examine hydrolytic behaviors of LiNH2BH3, NaNH2BH3, LiH-NH3BH3 and NaH-NH3BH3.
► Hydrolytic kinetics of LiNH2BH3 and NaNH2BH3 are faster than their thermolysis.
► LiH and NaH induce the thermohydrolysis of NH3BH3 during hydrolysis.