Recent advances in the use of sodium borohydride as a solid state hydrogen store

Abstract

The development of new practical hydrogen storage materials with high volumetric and gravimetric hydrogen densities is necessary to implement fuel cell technology for both mobile and stationary applications. NaBH4, owing to its low cost and high hydrogen density (10.6 wt%), has received extensive attention as a promising hydrogen storage medium. However, its practical use is hampered by its high thermodynamic stability and slow hydrogen exchange kinetics. Recent developments have been made in promoting H2 release and tuning the thermodynamics of the thermal decomposition of solid NaBH4. These conceptual advances offer a positive outlook for using NaBH4-based materials as viable hydrogen storage carriers for mobile applications. This review summarizes contemporary progress in this field with a focus on the fundamental dehydrogenation and rehydrogenation pathways and properties and on material design strategies towards improved kinetics and thermodynamics such as catalytic doping, nano-engineering, additive destabilization and chemical modification.