Study on hydrogen storage properties of Mg nanoparticles confined in carbon aerogels

Magnesium nanoparticles confined in carbon aerogels were successfully synthesized through hydrogenation of infiltrated dibutyl-magnesium followed by hydrogen desorption at 623 K. The average crystallite size of Mg nanoparticle is calculated to be 19.3 nm based on X-ray diffraction analyses. TEM observations showed that the size of MgH2 particle is mainly distributed in the range from 5.0 to 20.0 nm, with a majority portion smaller than 10.0 nm. The hydrogenation and dehydrogenation enthalpies of the confined Mg are determined to be −65.1 ± 1.56 kJ/mol H2 and 68.8 ± 1.03 kJ/mol H2 by Pressure–composition–temperature tests, respectively, slightly lower than the corresponding enthalpies for pure Mg. In addition, the apparent activation energy for hydrogen absorption is determined to be 29.4 kJ/mol H2, much lower than that of the micro-size Mg particles. These results indicate that the thermodynamic and absorption kinetic properties of confined Mg nanoparticles can be significantly improved due to the ‘nanosize effect’.

► Mg nanoparticles confined within carbon aerogels were successfully prepared. ► Nanoconfined Mg shows superior hydrogen sorption properties over pure Mg. ► ‘Nanosize effect’ plays a key role for the destabilization of nanoconfined MgH2.