Sorption of hydrogen onto titanate nanotubes decorated with a nanostructured Cd3[Fe(CN)6]2 Prussian Blue analogue

• Main Authors: Al-Hajjaj, A.A (Author), Zamora, B. (Author), Bavykin, D.V (Author), Shah, A.A (Author), Walsh, F.C (Author), Reguera, E. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2012-01.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

Nanostructured films of cadmium hexacyanoferrate (III), Cd3[Fe(CN)6]2 have been deposited on the surface of titanate nanotubes (TiNT) by ion exchange with CdSO4, followed by reaction with K3[Fe(CN)6] in an aqueous suspension. The composite demonstrates a significantly higher hydrogen storage uptake than pure Cd3[Fe(CN)6]2 and TiNT. At a temperature of 77 K and a pressure 100 bar, the hydrogen uptake for the composite is approximately 12.5 wt %, whereas only 4.5 wt % and 4 wt % are achieved for the TiNT and Cd3[Fe(CN)6]2 respectively. Electron microscopy and infrared spectroscopy show that Cd3[Fe(CN)6]2 is uniformly distributed on the surface of the nanotubes forming a discontinuous nanostructured film with a well developed interface, which allows efficient interaction with the support. The possible reasons for the high uptake of hydrogen in the composite are discussed