Nano-Quasicrystals for Hydrogen Storage

可持续氢气只产生废水，可以为能源供应、运输、商业和家庭部门提供可信的脱碳解决方案。在能源应用中，特别是在汽车上开发氢气的一个主要障碍是缺乏安全、高效和具有成本效益的存储系统。准晶(QC)由于其独特的多壳层团簇结构，提供了高密度的间隙位来容纳氢，因此有可能成为一种轻质的储氢材料。例如，传统金属/合金氢化物的典型存储容量小于2H/M(每金属氢原子)，而QC氢化物的理论存储容量为3.2H/M。许多先进的晶体材料已经被用于储氢，但关于储能方面的QC，特别是纳米QC，人们知之甚少。本项目旨在开发用于车载储氢的高性能纳米QC材料。学生将通过各种合成方法合成纳米QC，如化学气相沉积和物理气相沉积。通过X射线衍射仪、扫描电子显微镜、透射电子显微镜等手段进行表征，揭示了纳米QCs的结构。储氢性能，包括容量、动力学、热力学和可逆性，将通过差示扫描量热法、热重分析和压力-组成-等温线技术进行评估。与E.Besley教授领导的计算项目一起，该项目还将通过原位粉末中子衍射研究氢原子与宿主QC晶格之间的相互作用，以了解结构与存储性能之间的关系，从而制定用于储氢的纳米QC的设计方案。

Producing only water as a waste product, sustainable hydrogen could offer credible decarbonisation solutions for energy supply, transport, commercial and domestic sectors. A major barrier to exploitation of hydrogen in energy applications especially vehicles is the lack of a safe, efficient and cost-effective storage system. Quasicrystal (QC) have potential to be a lightweight hydrogen storage material due to their unique multi-shell cluster structure, which provide a high density of interstitial sites to accommodate hydrogen. For example, the typical storage capacity is less than 2H/M (hydrogen atom per metal) in conventional metal/alloy hydrides, in comparison to 3.2 H/M of the theoretical capacity in QC hydrides. A wide range of advanced crystal materials have been investigated for hydrogen storage; yet little is known about QC with respect to energy storage, especially nano-sized QCs. This project aims to develop high-performance nano QC materials for on-board vehicle hydrogen storage. The student will synthesize nano QC via various synthetic methods, such as chemical vapour deposition and physical vapour deposition. The characterisation via XRD, SEM, TEM will reveal the structure of nano QCs. Hydrogen storage properties including capacity, kinetics, thermodynamics and reversibility will be evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and pressure-composition-isotherm techniques. Working alongside a computational project led by Prof E. Besley, this project will also study the interaction between hydrogen atom and host QC lattice via in-situ powder neutron diffraction to understand the relationship between structure and storage performance, therefore set the design protocol for nano QCs for hydrogen storage.