Fluorinated metal hydrides for the catalytic hydrolysis of metal-hydrogen complexes

This paper is related to the hydrogen storage (H-storage) system composed of an alkaline solution that contains metal-hydrogen complex ions. The BH4−-complex ions stabilized when it is dissolved in aqueous KOH or NaOH to form homogeneous solutions. However, it is necessary to apply an appropriate catalyst for a high rate generation of hydrogen under atmospheric pressure and temperature conditions. The authors intended to develop catalysts suitable for the hydrolysis of BH4−-complex ion solutions and found that Mg2Ni exhibits excellent catalytic functions in the hydrolysis, in particular, after the fluorination treatment (F-treatment). In this work, the effects of F-treatment on the rates of hydrolysis were evaluated between the hydrided and unhydrided Mg2Ni. No hydrogenation in addition to F-treatment is required in view of hydrolysis kinetics and cost-effectiveness.