Insight to the Thermal Decomposition and Hydrogen Desorption Behaviors of NaNH₂–NaBH₄ Hydrogen Storage Composite

Abstract

The lightweight compound material NaNH2–NaBH4 is regarded as a promising hydrogen storage composite due to the high hydrogen density. Mechanical ball milling was employed to synthesize the composite NaNH2–NaBH4 (2/1 molar ratio), and the samples were investigated utilizing thermogravimetric-differential thermal analysis-mass spectroscopy (TG-DTA-MS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses. The full-spectrum test (range of the ratio of mass to charge: 0–200) shows that the released gaseous species contain H2, NH3, B2H6, and N2 in the heating process from room temperature to 400 °C, and possibly the impurity gas B6H12 also exists. The TG/DTA analyses show that the composite NaNH2–NaBH4 (2/1 molar ratio) is conductive to generate hydrogen so that the dehydrogenation process can be finished before 400 °C. Moreover, the thermal decomposition process from 200 to 400 °C involves two-step dehydrogenation reactions: (1) Na3(NH2)2BH4 hydride decomposes into Na3BN2 and H2 (200–350 °C); (2) remaining Na3(NH2)2BH4 reacts with NaBH4 and Na3BN2, generating Na, BN, NH3, N2, and H2 (350–400 °C). The better mechanism understanding of the thermal decomposition pathway lays a foundation for tailoring the hydrogen storage performance of the composite complex hydrides system.