Issue 31, 2010
From the journal:

Journal of Materials Chemistry

A new family of metal borohydride ammonia borane complexes: Synthesis, structures, and hydrogenstorage properties†

Hui Wu,*ab   Wei Zhou,ab   Frederick E. Pinkerton,c   Martin S. Meyer,c   Gadipelli Srinivas,ad   Taner Yildirim,ad   Terrence J. Udovica  and  John J. Rushab  

* Corresponding authors

a NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, USA
E-mail: huiwu@nist.gov
Fax: +1-301-921-9847
Tel: +1-301-975-2387

b Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

c Chemical Sciences and Materials Systems Laboratory, General Motors Research and Development Center, Warren, MI, USA

d Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Abstract

We report the first two examples of borohydride ammonia borane complexes: Li2(BH4)2NH3BH3 and Ca(BH4)2(NH3BH3)2. Their structures are successfully determined using a combination of X-ray diffraction and first-principles calculations. Both structures are composed of alternating layers of borohydride and ammonia borane. Examination of bond lengths indicates that this arrangement is stabilized via dihydrogen bonding between ammonia borane and their surrounding BH4−, and the interactions between ammonia borane ligands and cations. Our experimental results show that more than 10 wt% and 11 wt% hydrogen can be released from Li2(BH4)2NH3BH3 and Ca(BH4)2(NH3BH3)2, respectively. Negligible ammonia was detected compared to ammonia borane and its ammidoborane derivatives. Further improvements are needed to reduce borazine emission. Cycling studies show that decomposed Li2(BH4)2NH3BH3 and Ca(BH4)2(NH3BH3)2 can be partially hydrogenated under hydrogen pressures at high temperatures.

Graphical abstract: A new family of metal borohydride ammonia borane complexes: Synthesis, structures, and hydrogen storage properties

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Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/C0JM01542C
Article type
Paper
Submitted
20 May 2010
Accepted
28 May 2010
First published
25 Jun 2010

J. Mater. Chem., 2010,20, 6550-6556

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A new family of metal borohydride ammonia borane complexes: Synthesis, structures, and hydrogen storage properties

H. Wu, W. Zhou, F. E. Pinkerton, M. S. Meyer, G. Srinivas, T. Yildirim, T. J. Udovic and J. J. Rush, J. Mater. Chem., 2010, 20, 6550 DOI: 10.1039/C0JM01542C

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