Single-crystal ZrCo nanoparticle for advanced hydrogen and H-isotope storage

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 7966 - 10
• Main Authors: Li, Zhenyang, Liu, Shiyuan, Pu, Yanhui, Huang, Gang, Yuan, Yingbo, Zhu, Ruiqi, Li, Xufeng, Chen, Chunyan, Deng, Gao, Zou, Haihan, Yi, Peng, Fang, Ming, Sun, Xin, He, Junzhe, Cai, He, Shang, Jiaxiang, Liu, Xiaofang, Yu, Ronghai, Shui, Jianglan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 02.12.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 147/135; 147/137; 147/143; 639/4077/4079/4088/4089; 639/4077/909/4086/4087/4088; Chemical synthesis; Crystal defects; Dehydrogenation; Disproportionation; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogen; Hydrogen isotopes; Hydrogen storage; Metallurgy; multidisciplinary; Nanoparticles; Nuclear fusion; Performance degradation; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Single crystals; Smelting; Storage capacity
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43828-5

Hydrogen-isotope storage materials are essential for the controlled nuclear fusion. However, the currently used smelting-ZrCo alloy suffers from rapid degradation of performance due to severe disproportionation. Here, we reveal a defect-derived disproportionation mechanism and report a nano-single-crystal strategy to solve ZrCo’s problems. Single-crystal nano-ZrCo is synthesized by a wet-chemistry method and exhibits excellent comprehensive hydrogen-isotope storage performances, including ultrafast uptake/release kinetics, high anti-disproportionation ability, and stable cycling, far superior to conventional smelting-ZrCo. Especially, a further incorporation of Ti into nano-ZrCo can almost suppress the disproportionation reaction. Moreover, a mathematical relationship between dehydrogenation temperature and ZrCo particle size is established. Additionally, a microwave method capable of nondestructively detecting the hydrogen storage state of ZrCo is developed. The proposed disproportionation mechanism and anti-disproportionation strategy will be instructive for other materials with similar problems. ZrCo, a promising hydrogen isotope storage material, has poor cyclic storage capacity. Here author reveal a defect-derived disproportionation mechanism and report a nano-single-crystal strategy to comprehensively improve performances.