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Magnesium Hydride Formation within Carbon Aerogel

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Authors
Paskevicius, Mark
Tian, Hu-Yong
Sheppard, Drew
Webb, C.
Pitt, Mark
Gray, E.
Kirby, N.
Buckley, Craig
Date
2011
Type
Journal Article

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Paskevicius, Mark and Tian, Hu-Yong and Sheppard, Drew A. and Webb, Colin J. and Pitt, Mark P. and Gray, Evan MacA. and Kirby, Nigel M. and Buckley, Craig E. 2011. Magnesium Hydride Formation within Carbon Aerogel. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C. 115: pp. 1757-1766.
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The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
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Department of Imaging and Applied Physics
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Abstract

Magnesium hydride nanoparticles were synthesized within a carbon aerogel (CA) scaffold using a dibutylmagnesium precursor. The synthesis reaction was tracked using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) to analyze the structural evolution during MgH2 formation. The CA/MgH2 composite was also investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to provide a better representation of the physical system. The CA has a large quantity of 2 nm pores as shown by nitrogen adsorption data. Both SAXS and TEM investigations confirm that MgH2 does form within the 2 nm pores but XRD proves that there is also a significant quantity of larger MgH2 particles within the system. Variations between hydrogen desorption isotherms from the CA/MgH2 composite and bulk MgH2 are detected that are indicative of changes in the decomposition properties of the small fraction of 2 nm MgH2 nanoparticles within the CA/MgH2 composite, changes which match theoretical predictions.