Tetrahydroborates: Development and Potential as Hydrogen Storage Medium

Abstract

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, differently from fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal, the production of hydrogen requires energy. Alternative and intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar power, wind power, etc., present multiple advantages for the production of hydrogen. On the one hand, the renewable sources contribute to a remarkable reduction of pollutants released to the air and 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 renewable energy sources. In this regard, hydrogen storage technology is a key technology towards the practical application of hydrogen as "energy carrier". Among the methods available to store hydrogen, solid-state storage is the most attractive alternative from both 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 synthesis and development of tetrahydroborates and tetrahydroborate-based systems for hydrogen storage purposes are summarized.

Quantitative Assessment of B−B−B, B−Hb−B, and B−Ht Bonds: From BH3 to B12H122−

“…Boron‐hydrogen compounds are receiving a lot of attention due to their diverse physical and chemical properties, which can be useful for various technological applications ranging from hydrogen storage, fuel cells to high conducting materials even at room temperature as well as for applications in medicinal chemistry . Boranes and carboranes are recently targeted because of their potential to form interactions with the π ‐face of an arene .…”

A new mutually destabilized reactive hydride system: LiBH4–Mg2NiH4

“…In the last decades, the hydrogen absorption and desorption properties of complex metal hydrides such as borohydrides [1,2] , amides [3] and alanates [4] have been extensively investigated, due to their high gravimetric hydrogen storage capacity [5,6] . However, the reaction enthalpies of the complex metal hydrides are usually too high for most applications.…”

Functional Materials Based on Metal Hydrides

“…Owing to their high gravimetric hydrogen capacity, tetrahydroborates are extremely appealing for hydrogen storage. However, these materials have some limitations for their use for practical applications, as highlighted in [16], and as also discussed in several research papers in this special issue. The energy density of the reported materials in this special issue are compared in Table 1, which exhibit great potential of hydrides for high capacity energy storage.…”

“…An excellent overview of hydride composition and properties is provided by C. Pistidda and co-workers, which also includes important historical landmarks for this class of materials from the past century [16]. In this review, a detailed account of selected aspects of the most relevant complex hydrides is reported.…”

“…The properties of complex hydrides, such as lithium borohydride, LiBH 4 , can also be improved creating a reactive hydride composite (RHC) [16] using aluminium, i.e., LiBH 4 −Al [29]. Here, Carrillo-Bucio, Tena-García and Suárez-Alcántara investigate the dehydrogenation reactions of the mechanochemically treated 2LiBH 4 −Al composite; also with additives, TiF 3 or CeO 2 [17].…”