Our focus is a materials study of alanates for H₂ storage.  We are working in collaboration with Karl Gross and his group at SNL/CA.  This will aid the development of new catalysts and/or new hydrides to improve hydrogen storage capacities and kinetics.

Recent studies on sodium-alanates doped with a variety of catalysts or dopants have been performed with the general conclusion that titanium-containing precursors provide the best enhancement of hydrogen sorption properties.  We plan to apply methods that investigate short- and long-range mobility of atomic and molecular species, as well as techniques that give information on short-range order/disorder. These include: solid state NMR (1H, 27Al, 17O, 47,49Ti – in situ, variable temperature studies), BET (surface area analysis), Tunneling Electron Microscopy/electron diffraction, and Raman studies. Experimental data will supplement first-principles studies aimed at a fundamental understanding of possible defect structures in the sodium alanate system.

Team: Karl Gross, Eric Mahzoub, Tina Nenoff; Robert Maxwell (LLNL)

Funding: