Metal Hydride Nanoparticles with Ultrahigh Structural Stability and Hydrogen Storage Activity Derived from...

Metal hydrides (MHs) have recently been designed for hydrogen sensors, switchable mirrors, rechargeable batteries, and other energy-storage and conversion-related applications. The demands of MHs, particular fast hydrogen absorption/desorption kinetics, have brought their sizes to nanoscale. However, the nanostructured MHs generally suffer from surface passivation and low aggregation-resisting structural stability upon absorption/desorption. This study reports a novel strategy named microencapsulated nanoconfinement to realize local synthesis of nano-MHs, which possess ultrahigh structural stability and superior desorption kinetics. Monodispersed Mg₂ NiH₄ single crystal nanoparticles (NPs) are in situ encapsulated on the surface of graphene sheets (GS) through facile gas-solid reactions. This well-defined MgO coating layer with a thickness of ≈3 nm efficiently separates the NPs from each other to prevent aggregation during hydrogen absorption/desorption cycles, leading to excellent thermal and mechanical stability. More interestingly, the MgO layer shows superior gas-selective permeability to prevent further oxidation of Mg₂ NiH₄ meanwhile accessible for hydrogen absorption/desorption. As a result, an extremely low activation energy (31.2 kJ mol^-1 ) for the dehydrogenation reaction is achieved. This study provides alternative insights into designing nanosized MHs with both excellent hydrogen storage activity and thermal/mechanical stability exempting surface modification by agents.