Effect of MoS2 on hydrogenation storage properties of LiBH4

•The hydrogen absorption capacity is nearly the same for 5 cycles at 400 °C.•The sample with MoS2 starts to release hydrogen at 230 °C.•The coexistence of MoB2 and Li2S catalyzes the decomposition of LiBH4.

The hydrogen storage properties of LiBH4 ball milled with 20 wt% MoS2 have been investigated. It shows that the LiBH4 doped with MoS2 exhibits favorable hydrogenation and dehydrogenation properties in terms of decomposition temperature and hydriding/dehydriding reversibility. The sample with MoS2 starts to release hydrogen at 230 °C and has a decrease of 80 °C in contrast with pristine LiBH4. Furthermore, for the second cycle, the LiBH4 with MoS2 maintains a reversible hydrogen storage capacity of about 8.0 wt% which is almost identical with the first cycle under 5 MPa at 550 °C. Analyzed by the XRD and the FTIR results, LiBH4 can be regenerated after re-hydrogenation under a relatively mild condition by adding MoS2. The improvement of the hydrogenation and dehydrogenation properties mainly results from the formation of Li2S and MoB2 during ball milling.

Graphical abstractHydrogen absorption curves of LiBH4 doped with MoS2 for five cycles at 400 °C Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide