中国物理B ›› 2010, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (4): 48601-048601.doi: 10.1088/1674-1056/19/4/048601

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A first-principles study of the catalytic mechanism of the dehydriding reaction of LiNH2 through adding Ti catalysts

刘贵立1, 张辉2, 戚克振2, 张国英2, 肖明珠2, 朱圣龙3   

  1. (1)College of Constructional Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang 110023, China; (2)College of Physics Science and Technology, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China; (3)State Key Laboratory for Corrosion and Protection, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang {\rm 110016, China
  • 收稿日期:2009-04-28 修回日期:2009-09-26 出版日期:2010-04-15 发布日期:2010-04-15
  • 基金资助:
    Project supported by the National High Technology Research $\&$ Development of China (Grant No.~2009AA05Z105), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.~50671069), the Science Research Program of the Education Bureau of Liaoning Province

A first-principles study of the catalytic mechanism of the dehydriding reaction of LiNH2 through adding Ti catalysts

Zhang Hui(张辉)a)† , Liu Gui-Li(刘贵立)b), Qi Ke-Zhen(戚克振) a), Zhang Guo-Ying(张国英)a), Xiao Ming-Zhu(肖明珠) a), and Zhu Sheng-Long(朱圣龙)c)   

  1. a College of Physics Science and Technology, Shenyang Normal University, Shenyang 110034, China; b College of Constructional Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang 110023, China; c State Key Laboratory for Corrosion and Protection, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
  • Received:2009-04-28 Revised:2009-09-26 Online:2010-04-15 Published:2010-04-15
  • Supported by:
    Project supported by the National High Technology Research $\&$ Development of China (Grant No.~2009AA05Z105), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.~50671069), the Science Research Program of the Education Bureau of Liaoning Province

摘要: Experiments on a ball milled mixture with a 1:1 molar ratio of LiNH2 and LiH with a small amount (1~mol %) of Ti$nano$, TiCl3 and TiO$2nano$ have revealed a superior catalytic effect on Li--N--H hydrogen storage materials. In the x-ray diffraction profiles, no trace of Ti$nano$, TiCl3 and TiO$2nano$ was found in these doped composites, by which we deduced that Ti atoms enter LiNH2 by partial element substitution. A first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential method based on density functional theory has been used to investigate the catalytic effects of Ti catalysts on the dehydrogenating properties of LiNH$2$ system. The results show that Ti substitution can reduce the dehydrogenation reaction activation energy of LiNH2 and improve the dehydrogenating properties of LiNH2. Based on the analysis of the density of states and overlap populations for LiNH$2$ before and after Ti substitution, it was found that the stability of the system of LiNH$2$ is reduced, which originates from the increase of the valence electrons at the Fermi level ($EF)$ and the decrease of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)--lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap ($\Delta EH-L)$ near $EF. The catalytic effect of Ti on the dehydrogenating kinetics of LiNH$2$ may be attributed to the reduction of average populations between N--H per unit bond length (nm$^{ - 1})$, which leads to the reduction of the chemical bond strength of N--H.

Abstract: Experiments on a ball milled mixture with a 1:1 molar ratio of LiNH2 and LiH with a small amount (1 mol %) of Tinano, TiCl3 and TiO2nano have revealed a superior catalytic effect on Li--N--H hydrogen storage materials. In the x-ray diffraction profiles, no trace of Tinano, TiCl3 and TiO2nano was found in these doped composites, by which we deduced that Ti atoms enter LiNH2 by partial element substitution. A first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential method based on density functional theory has been used to investigate the catalytic effects of Ti catalysts on the dehydrogenating properties of LiNH2 system. The results show that Ti substitution can reduce the dehydrogenation reaction activation energy of LiNH2 and improve the dehydrogenating properties of LiNH2. Based on the analysis of the density of states and overlap populations for LiNH2 before and after Ti substitution, it was found that the stability of the system of LiNH2 is reduced, which originates from the increase of the valence electrons at the Fermi level (EF) and the decrease of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)--lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap ($\Delta E_{\rm H-L})$ near EF. The catalytic effect of Ti on the dehydrogenating kinetics of LiNH2 may be attributed to the reduction of average populations between N--H per unit bond length (nm$^{ - 1})$, which leads to the reduction of the chemical bond strength of N--H.

Key words: LiNH2, first-principles calculation, dehydrogenating properties, Ti catalytic mechanism

中图分类号:  (Surface and interface chemistry; heterogeneous catalysis at surfaces)

  • 82.65.+r
84.60.-h (Direct energy conversion and storage) 71.20.Ps (Other inorganic compounds) 82.30.-b (Specific chemical reactions; reaction mechanisms)