Issue 1, 2008

Synthesis of ammonia borane for hydrogenstorage applications

Abstract

A new synthetic procedure to make the condensed phase hydrogen storage material, ammonia borane (NH3BH3, abbreviated as AB), is described and compared with previous literature procedures. Ammonia borane with a gravimetric density ca. 194 gm H2 kg−1 and a volumetric density ca. 146 H2 litre−1, is a promising chemical hydrogen storage material for fuel cell powered applications. The work shows that ammonium borohydride, NH4BH4, formed in situ by the metathesis of NH4X and MBH4 salts (M = Na, Li; X = Cl, F) in liquid NH3, can be induced to decompose in an organic ether to yield AB in near quantitative yield. The purity of the AB prepared by this one-pot synthetic strategy is sufficient to meet the thermal stability requirements for on-board hydrogen storage.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis of ammonia borane for hydrogen storage applications

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 May 2008
Accepted
03 Jun 2008
First published
20 Jun 2008

Energy Environ. Sci., 2008,1, 156-160

Synthesis of ammonia borane for hydrogen storage applications

D. J. Heldebrant, A. Karkamkar, J. C. Linehan and T. Autrey, Energy Environ. Sci., 2008, 1, 156 DOI: 10.1039/B808865A

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