Hydrogen boride nanosheets (HB sheets) are facilely synthesized via ion-exchange treatment on magnesium diboride (MgB2) in an acetonitrile solution. Optical absorption and fluorescence spectra of HB sheets indicate that their bandgap energy is 2.8 eV. According to first-principles calculations, optical absorption seen at 2.8 eV is assigned to the electron transition between the σ-bonding states of B and H orbitals. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) calculations suggest the other allowed transition from the σ-bonding state of B and H orbitals to the antibonding state with the gap of 3.8 eV. Significant gaseous H2 release is found to occur only under photoirradiation, which causes the electron transition from the σ-bonding state to the antibonding state even under mild ambient conditions. The amount of H2 released from the irradiated HB sheets is estimated to be 8 wt%, indicating that the sheets have a high H2-storage capacity compared with previously reported metal H2-storage materials.

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