Properties of nanoscale metal hydrides

Nanoscale hydride particles may exhibit chemical stabilities which differ from those of a macroscopic system. The stabilities are mainly influenced by a surface energy term which contains size-dependent values of the surface tension, the molar volume and an additional term which takes into account a potential reduction of the excess surface energy. Thus, the equilibrium of a nanoparticular hydride system may be shifted to the hydrogenated or to the dehydrogenated side, depending on the size and on the prefix of the surface energy term of the hydrogenated and dehydrogenated material. Additional complexity appears when solid-state reactions of complex hydrides are considered and phase segregation has to be taken into account. In such a case the reversibility of complex hydrides may be reduced if the nanoparticles are free standing on a surface. However, it may be enhanced if the system is enclosed by a nanoscale void which prevents the reaction partners on the dehydrogenated side from diffusing away from each other. Moreover, the generally enhanced diffusivity in nanocrystalline systems may lower the kinetic barriers for the material's transformation and, thus, facilitate hydrogen absorption and desorption.