Boron Nitride for Hydrogen Storage

Abstract

Boron nitride, BN, for hydrogen storage emerged in the beginning of the millennium and there swiftly followed more than 15 years of efforts combining experimental laboratory works and to a greater extent computational predictions. BN has been considered mainly for the storage of molecular hydrogen, H2, by physisorption and/or chemisorption over a wide range of temperatures, that is, between −196 °C and 300 °C. Yet its potential has gone beyond the sorption of H2 as it has been also, although less extensively, involved in chemical H storage. The present review aims at giving a comprehensive overview of the main experimental results and findings as well as of the different avenues worth being explored. A key lesson of this survey is that boron nitride may turn out to be a promising material for hydrogen storage at room conditions provided all the predictions come true. The “ball” is now in the lab experimenters’ court.

Hydrogen Storage in Carbon and Oxygen Co‐Doped Porous Boron Nitrides

“…Further chemical modifications of the BN surfaces would enhance their affinities of H 2 , [ 29 ] for example, substituting one B atom by one C atom in BNNTs, or one N atom with a O atom in BN nanosheets, leads to higher adsorption energy for the H 2 molecules. [ 30 ] Lei et al. experimentally found that ≈4 at% oxygen doping of BN nanosheets with the SSA of 536 m 2 g −1 had boosted the H 2 uptake to 5.7 wt% under 5 MPa at room temperature.…”

Theoretical investigation of an acid catalyst for viable release of H2 from BN nanotubes: A local pair natural orbital coupled cluster approach

“…Our findings surely indicate the possibility of development of a viable dehydrogenation scheme from chemical hydrogen storage media with the application of acid initiators. [ 20 ]…”

Challenges in the use of hydrogen for maritime applications

“…These materials can be metallic structures that work like hydrogen sponges, [136][137][138] or they can be powders that release hydrogen upon contact with water or increased temperatures. [139][140][141][142] There has been a lot of research put into different solid materials for hydrogen storage, and it is not in the scope of this review to comment on all these methods, but we will select those that show promise for hydrogen storage in a maritime environment.…”