Reversible hydrogenation/dehydrogenation performances of the Na2LiAlH6–Mg(NH2)2 system

Complex hydrides and Metal–N–H-based materials have attracted considerable attention due to their high hydrogen content. In this paper, a novel amide–hydride combined system was prepared by ball milling a mixture of Na2LiAlH6–Mg(NH2)2 in a molar ratio of 1:1.5. The hydrogen storage performances of the Na2LiAlH6–1.5Mg(NH2)2 system were systematically investigated by a series of dehydrogenation/hydrogenation evaluation and structural analyses. It was found that a total of ∼5.08 wt% of hydrogen, equivalent to 8.65 moles of H atoms, was desorbed from the Na2LiAlH6–1.5Mg(NH2)2 combined system. In-depth investigations revealed that the variable milling treatments resulted in the different dehydrogenation reaction pathways due to the combination of Al and N caused by the energetic milling. Hydrogen uptake experiment indicated that only ∼4 moles of H atoms could be reversibly stored in the Na2LiAlH6–1.5Mg(NH2)2 system perhaps due to the formation of AlN and Mg3N2 after dehydrogenation.