It is ideal that the hydrogen storage
materials for vehicular applications
can desorb substantial amounts of hydrogen below 85 °C, the operating
temperature of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Ammonia
borane (NH3BH3, AB for short), because of its
intriguingly high hydrogen density (i.e., 19.6 wt %) and moderate
thermal stability, is widely regarded as a promising on-board hydrogen
storage medium. However, at this temperature, both its dehydrogenation
kinetics and deliverable H-capacity are far from meeting the requirements
for practical applications. Here, we report that the Mg- or MgH2-modified AB can deliver over 9 wt % of H2 within
1.5 h at approximately 85 °C. Such pronounced dehydrogenation
properties are found to be enabled by the combination of three factors,
including partial phase transition of normal AB to its mobile phase
AB* in the starting material, adequate sample thermal conductivity,
and sufficiently intensive external energy input. A further mechanistic
study indicates that the dehydrogenation of the AB–Mg or AB–MgH2 sample should likely involve a three-step mechanism, with
the formation of a metastable or even unstable magnesium amidoborane
phase being a central event.