Tailoring reversible hydrogen storage performance of NaAlH4 through NiTiO3 nanorods

Despite of the moderate working temperature and relatively high hydrogen capacity of NaAlH 4 , the slow H 2 absorption and desorption kinetics and poor reversibility pose a major bottleneck hindering its practical application. Herein, porous NiTiO 3 nanorods is constructed to tailor reversible hydrogen storage performance of NaAlH 4 . It is theoretically and experimentally demonstrated that the building of NiTiO 3 nanorods effectively promotes the uniform distribution of catalytic Ni-based species and Ti-based species inside of NaAlH 4 matrix that are capable of synergistically weakening Al-H bonds of NaAlH 4 . As a result, under the catalysis of porous NiTiO 3 nanorods, the onset temperature for H 2 desorption from NaAlH 4 is decreased down to 89 °C, 91 °C lower than that of pure NaAlH 4 . In addition, NaAlH 4 under the catalysis of porous NiTiO 3 nanorods is capable of releasing 4.5 wt% H 2 within 60 min, 3.8 and 0.9 wt% higher than that of NaAlH 4 catalyzed by NiO and TiO 2 , respectively. More importantly, a reversible capacity of 4.6 wt% could be obtained for NaAlH 4 under the catalysis of porous NiTiO 3 nanorods after 5 cycles, corresponding to a capacity retention of 95%, while this value is significantly decreased to 42% for NaAlH 4 without the addition of NiTiO 3 nanorods. This work provides a new perspective for the development and design of high-performance catalysts for realizing reversible hydrogen storage of NaAlH 4 under moderate condition.