Low-temperature synthesis of ammonia borane using diborane and ammonia

Abstract

Ammonia borane (NH3BH3), as a source material for energy generation and hydrogen storage, has attracted growing interest due to its high hydrogen content. We have investigated the synthesis of ammonia borane from diborane (B2H6) and ammonia (NH3) utilizing a low-temperature process. From our results, a maximum synthetic yield of 92.2% was obtained, for an ammonia borane complex of 0.35 M. The diammoniate diborane (DADB) was detected in about 5–10 mol% within the solid ammonia borane by solid-state 11B-NMR analysis. The synthesized solid ammonia borane products were studied to characterize hydrogen release upon thermal dehydrogenation.