Effects of Ni and Co-decorated MWCNTs addition on the dehydrogenation behavior and stability of LiAlH4

•Ni and Co decorated MWCNTs catalysts were developed by chemical reduction process.•MWCNTs/Ni or MWCNTs/Co could enhance the dehydrogenation kinetics of LiAlH4.•Ni decorated MWCNTs/Ni was more effective than MWCNTs/Co as a catalyst.•Room temperature dehydrogenation of LiAlH4 was seen with 20 wt% MWCNTs/Ni addition.

A complex catalyst consisting of metal particles and multi walled carbon nano tubes (MWCNTs) was developed in an attempt to reduce the dehydrogenation temperature of LiAlH4. By chemical reduction method, Ni and Co particles can be decorated on MWCNTs. The dehydrogenation behavior of LiAlH4 admixed with various amount of Ni, Co-decorated MWCNTs was investigated by using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The TGA and in-situ XRD results shows that both Ni and Co-decorated MWCNTs can reduce the dehydrogenation temperature of LiAlH4. The results also reveal that Ni-decorated MWCNTs is more effective in catalyzing the dehydrogenation reaction of LiAlH4, even can lead to room temperature hydrogen desorption.