Effect of morphology on the hydrogen storage capacity of sol-gel synthesized Ce-Y-O nanostructures

Abstract

Different morphologies of active materials affect hydrogen storage performance. Therefore, engineering the active materials through changes in synthesis conditions can result in changes in their size and morphology. A sol-gel process assisted by trimessic acid was used to synthesize the nanostructured Ce2Y2O7. Five different morphologies were generated. Under the same conditions, charge-discharge chronopotentiometry tests were performed in order to compare the effect of Ce2Y2O7 nanostructures on hydrogen storage capacity in KOH electrolyte at a current of 1 mA. The results indicate that the highest capacity is attributed to the very thin nanoribbons (643 mAhg−1) while the lowest capacity is attributed to the agglomerated ribbons assembled with particles (276 mAhg−1).