Abstract
The use of fossil fuels as an energy supply becomes increasingly problematic from the point of view of both environmental emissions and energy sustainability. As an alternative, hydrogen is widely regarded as a key element for a potential energy solution. However, different from fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal, the production of hydrogen requires energy. Alternative and intermittent renewable sources such as solar power, wind power, etc., present multiple advantages for the production of hydrogen. On one hand, the renewable sources contribute to a remarkable reduction of pollutants released to the air. On the other hand, they significantly enhance the sustainability of energy supply. In addition, the storage of energy in form of hydrogen has a huge potential to balance an effective and synergetic utilization of the renewable energy sources. In this regard, hydrogen storage technology presents a key roadblock towards the practical application of hydrogen as “energy carrier”. Among the methods available to store hydrogen, solid-state storage is the most attractive alternative both from the safety and the volumetric energy density points of view. Because of their appealing hydrogen content, complex hydrides and complex hydride-based systems have attracted considerable attention as potential energy vectors for mobile and stationary applications. In this review, the progresses made over the last century on the development in the synthesis and research on the decomposition reactions of homoleptic tetrahydroborates is summarized. Furthermore, theoretical and experimental investigations on the thermodynamic and kinetic tuning of tetrahydroborates for hydrogen storage purposes are herein reviewed.
Highlights
Since the second industrial revolution in the late 19th century, humankind has experienced an uninterrupted period of industrial and economic growth
Tailoring the metal hydrides reaction enthalpies and/or developing hydrogen containing materials that are different from the conventional metal hydrides are key issues for the design of vessels based on solid-state hydrogen storage materials towards practical applications
Computational and experimental works have reported that the decomposition reaction of LiBH4 proceeds through the formation of the intermediate Li2 B12 H12 as indicated in reaction (31), and Li2 B12 H12 decomposes to solid lithium hydride, solid boron and gaseous hydrogen according to reaction (32)
Summary
Since the second industrial revolution in the late 19th century, humankind has experienced an uninterrupted period of industrial and economic growth. Tailoring the metal hydrides reaction enthalpies and/or developing hydrogen containing materials that are different from the conventional metal hydrides are key issues for the design of vessels based on solid-state hydrogen storage materials towards practical applications. Because of their high hydrogen storage capacity, “complex hydrides” attracted considerable attention as potential hydrogen storage materials [20,21,22,23]. The aim of this work is to highlight selected aspects of tetrahydroborates, such as (1) a historical overview about their synthesis; (2) the different decompositions mechanisms; and (3) the conceptual background of alternative approaches to tailor their hydrogen storage properties, mainly the concept of the reactive hydride composites (RHC), along with the most relevant achievement in their use as hydrogen storage materials and future prospects
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