Ammonia borane (AB) holds great potential as a hydrogen storage material to be used in hydrogen fuel cells; however, modification and further investigation are necessary to reduce unwanted byproducts, expedite dehydrogenation kinetics, improve thermal outcome and increase overall reaction efficacy. The composites of AB blending with polyacrylic acid (PAA) were prepared using sol-gel method. In addition to that, catalysts (MgCl2 and CaCl2) were added to AB:PAA composites to investigate any further improvement. The thermal and kinetic properties of the composites were then compared with pure AB. The preliminary experiments of kinetic studies were conducted using Differential Scanning Calorimeter. The results displayed the most improved kinetic properties, i.e. decrease in activation energy (faster kinetics) for AB:PAA (mass ratio 1:1) composites with the CaCl2 catalyst. Further investigation is in progress including preperation of varied AB composition in AB:PAA and AB:PAA with catalysts. Other studies include measuring thermal decomposition of the composites via thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), investigating the bonding properties, i.e. interaction between AB, PAA and the catalysts using Fourier Transfrom Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It will also help to identify the gases and unwanted byproducts released during dehydrogenation of the composites with the support of TGA experiments.

Investigating dehydrogenation properties of ammonia borane - polyacyrlic acid hydrogen storage composites

ACS Spring 2022

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