Investigating Surface Area and Hydrogen Pressure Effects on LiH and NaH

NaH and LiH are theoretically capable of storing hydrogen, but several challenges remain to be overcome before they can be widely used for hydrogen storage. In this study, LiH and NaH were ball-milled and the effect of surface area and hydrogen pressure on hydrogen storage capacity was investigated using the solid-state hydrogen storage method. XRD patterns and Raman spectra show significant shifts in main peak positions of LiH and NaH after hydrogen adsorption. BET analysis shows a significant increase in the specific surface area of LiH and NaH from 6.25 m(2)/g to 12.35 m(2)/g and from 1.34 m(2)/g to 2.33 m(2)/g respectively due to ball milling. The FTIR spectra showed more bonds in the 400-1200 cm(-1) fingerprint region after storing hydrogen in LiH and NaH. This suggests structural changes with enhanced bond bending due to hydrogen. At 9 bar pressure, LiH and NaH exhibited excellent hydrogen storage, with ball-milled LiH reaching about 3.55 wt% and 652 sccm, and NaH achieving approximately 1.58 wt% and 291 sccm. These results highlight the significant influence of surface area and hydrogen pressure on hydrogen storage potential. Incorporating the storage potential within the evaluation of PEM fuel cell performance, we suggest that an increased storage capacity directly corresponds to an augmented power density. The analysis of power density over time revealed that the hydrogen adsorbed ball-milled LiH exhibited the highest power density, peaking at 0.075 Wcm(-2) over the long term. In contrast, LiH displayed a lower power density (0.025 Wcm(-2)) while maintaining its long-term performance. The hydrogen adsorbed NaH and hydrogen adsorbed ball-milled NaH displayed power densities 0.050 Wcm(-2) and 0.073 Wcm(-2), respectively, but they showed short-term performance.