Performance study of promising hydrogen storage materials using neutron scattering

Topic  34
Main supervisor K.Lieutenant (k.lieutenant@fz-juelich.de)
MLZ institution FZJ
Local supervisor 1 Geir Ove Ropphaugen
Institution Glomfjord Hydrogen AS
Local supervisor 2 A.Borissova
Institution Nord University
Local supervisor 3
Institution
Local supervisor 4
Institution
Title Performance study of promising hydrogen storage materials using neutron scattering
Description The climate change endangers life on the planet. So the increase in global temperature has to be limited by changing from burning fossil fuels to using renewable energies in all sectors: electricity generation, industry, air conditioning and traffic. In traffic, battery driven electric cars are a good choice for small and short-range vehicles, while using fuel cells and hydrogen as energy source is a better solution for long-range applications and where mass has to be kept low. However, the storage of hydrogen as gas of 350 to 700 bars makes fueling expensive and …. . Storing hydrogen in solid-state material has shown to be a good alternative, especially if combined with new ideas like storing it in exchangeable containers, which are filled off-board [1,2]. This concept reduces the requirements for solid state hydrogen storage materials, so that the search for the ideal material has to be re-started. Alanates like NaAlH4, borohydrides and Mg compounds are possible candidates. The main topics of the study should be recyclability and de-hydrogenation dynamics. Neutrons offer special opportunities for this research as they can locate hydrogens atoms and deliver information about their environment and dynamics. It is possible to analyse the compounds involved in the storage by neutron diffraction, to monitor aggregation of hydrogen by SANS, to show the hydrogen distribution by neutron imaging and to study the de-hydrogenation dynamics by neutron spectroscopy. If the storage material contains lithium or boron, neutron depth profiling (NDP) can also be applied. Therefore, such a study using neutron scattering will help finding the right hydrogen storage material.
[1] O.M. Løvvik, Viable storage of hydrogen in materials with off-board recharging using high-temperature electrolysis. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2009. 34(6): p. 2679-2683
[2] K. Lieutenant, A. Borissova, A landscape of hydride compounds for off-board refilling of transport vehicles, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 45 (2020) 2954-2966 (DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2019.09.173)