Modified MgH2 Hydrogen Storage Properties Based on Grapefruit Peel-Derived Biochar

Abstract

Carbon materials play an important role in the development of solid hydrogen storage materials. The main purpose of this work is to study the low-cost synthesis of biomass carbon (BC) and its positive effect on the hydrogen storage behavior of magnesium hydride (MgH2). Herein, it is proven that when biomass carbon (BC) is used together with magnesium hydride (MgH2), biomass carbon can be used as an adsorption and desorption channel for hydrogen. The initial dehydrogenation temperature of MgH2 + 10 wt% BC composite is 250 °C, which is 110 °C lower than that of pure MgH2. In addition, the MgH2 + 10 wt% BC composite system can complete all dehydrogenation processes within 10 min at 350 °C. Meanwhile, 5.1 wt% H2 can also be dehydrogenated within 1 h at 300 °C. Under the same conditions, MgH2 hardly starts to release hydrogen. After complete dehydrogenation, the composite can start to absorb hydrogen at 110 °C. Under the conditions of 225 °C and 3 MPa, 6.13 wt% H2 can be absorbed within 1 h, basically reaching the theoretical dehydrogenation limit. Cycling experiments show that the MgH2 + 10 wt% BC composite has a good stability. After 10 cycles, the hydrogen storage capacity shows almost no obvious decline. It is believed that this study can help in the research and development of efficient carbon-based multifunctional catalysts.