The effect of charge on the dihydrogen storage capacity of Sc2–C6H6

Abstract

The effect of charge on the dihydrogen storage capacity of Sc2–C6H6 has been investigated at B3LYP-D3/6-311G(d,p) level. The neutral system Sc2–C6H6 can store 8H2 with gravimetric density of 8.76 wt %, and one H2 dissociates and bonds atomically on the scandium atom. The adsorption of 8H2 on Sc2–C6H6 is energetically favorable below 155 K. The atom-centered density matrix propagation (ADMP) molecular dynamics simulations show that Sc2–C6H6 can adsorb 3H2 within 1000 fs at 300K. Compared with Sc2–C6H6, the charged systems can adsorb more hydrogen molecules with higher gravimetric density, and all the H2 are adsorbed in the molecular form. The gravimetric densities of Sc2–C6H6+ and Sc2–C6H62+ are 9.75 and 10.71 wt%. Moreover, the maximum adsorption of charged systems are favorable in wider temperature range. Most importantly, the ADMP-MD simulations indicate that Sc2–C6H62+ can adsorb 6 hydrogen molecules within 1000 fs at 300K. It can be found that the gravimetric density (6.72 wt%) of Sc2–C6H62+ still exceeds the target of US Department of Energy (DOE) under ambient conditions.