Publications

Investigation of metal hydride nanoparticles templated in metal organic frameworks

Bhakta, Raghunandan K.; Allendorf, Mark D.; Behrens, Richard B.; Highley, Aaron M.; Jacobs, Benjamin J.

Hydrogen is proposed as an ideal carrier for storage, transport, and conversion of energy. However, its storage is a key problem in the development of hydrogen economy. Metal hydrides hold promise in effectively storing hydrogen. For this reason, metal hydrides have been the focus of intensive research. The chemical bonds in light metal hydrides are predominantly covalent, polar covalent or ionic. These bonds are often strong, resulting in high thermodynamic stability and low equilibrium hydrogen pressures. In addition, the directionality of the covalent/ionic bonds in these systems leads to large activation barriers for atomic motion, resulting in slow hydrogen sorption kinetics and limited reversibility. One method for enhancing reaction kinetics is to reduce the size of the metal hydrides to nano scale. This method exploits the short diffusion distances and constrained environment that exist in nanoscale hydride materials. In order to reduce the particle size of metal hydrides, mechanical ball milling is widely used. However, microscopic mechanisms responsible for the changes in kinetics resulting from ball milling are still being investigated. The objective of this work is to use metal organic frameworks (MOFs) as templates for the synthesis of nano-scale NaAlH4 particles, to measure the H2 desorption kinetics and thermodynamics, and to determine quantitative differences from corresponding bulk properties. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offer an attractive alternative to traditional scaffolds because their ordered crystalline lattice provides a highly controlled and understandable environment. The present work demonstrates that MOFs are stable hosts for metal hydrides and their reactive precursors and that they can be used as templates to form metal hydride nanoclusters on the scale of their pores (1-2 nm). We find that using the MOF HKUST-1 as template, NaAlH4 nanoclusters as small as 8 formula units can be synthesized inside the pores. A detailed picture of the hydrogen desorption is investigated using a simultaneous thermogravimetric modulated-beam mass spectrometry instrument. The hydrogen desorption behavior of NaAlH4 nano-clusters is found to be very different from bulk NaAlH4. The bulk NaAlH4 desorbs about 70 wt% hydrogen {approx}250 C. In contrast, confinement of NaAlH4 within the MOF pores dramatically increases the rate of H2 desorption at lower temperatures. About {approx}80% of the total H2 desorbed from MOF-confined NaAlH4 is observed between 70 to 155 C. In addition to HKUST-1, we find that other MOFs (e.g. MIL-68 and MOF-5) can be infiltrated with hydrides (LiAlH4, LiBH4) or hydride precursors (Mg(C4H9)2 and LiC2H5) without degradation. By varying pore dimensions, metal centers, and the linkers of MOFs, it will be possible to determine whether the destabilization of metal hydrides is dictated only by the size of the metal hydride clusters, their local environment in a confined space, or by catalytic effects of the framework.