Hydrogen storage composition, and associated article and method

• US 20070014683A1
• Filed: 09/15/2006
• Published: 01/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Lemmon, John, Zhao, Ji-Cheng, Townsend, Susan, Minnear, William, Brewer, Luke
• Application Number:
  US11/522,251
• Publication Number:
  US 20070014683A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 420/400
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 20/02 comprising inorganic material
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 20/08 comprising aluminium oxide or hydroxide; comprising bauxite
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 20/103 comprising silica
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 30/00 Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 3/001 characterised by the uptaking medium; Treatment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 3/0021 Carbon, e.g. active carbon, carbon nanotubes, fullerenes; Treatment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 3/0031 Intermetallic compounds; Metal alloys; Treatment thereof
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 32/90 Carbides
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 33/06 Metal silicides alloys C22
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 35/04 Metal borides
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 21/00 Alloys based on aluminium
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 21/06 with magnesium as the next major constituent
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 23/02 with aluminium as the next major constituent
• CPC Class Codes: C22C 24/00 Alloys based on an alkali or an alkaline earth metal
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/32 Hydrogen storage

Abstract

A composition that includes a storage material is provided. The storage material includes at least one of AlLi, Al₂Li₃, Al₄Li₉, Al₃Mg₂, Al₁₂Mg₁₇, AlB₁₂, Al₄C₃, AlTi₂C, AlTi₃C, AlZrC₂, Al₃Zr₅C, Al₃Zr₂C₄, Al₃Zr₂C₇, AlB₂, AlB₁₂, AlSi, B₆Ca, B₆K, B₁₂Li, B₆Li, B₄Li, B₃Li, B₂Li, BLi, B₆Li₇, BLi₃, Ca₂Si, CaSi, CaSi₂, Ge₄K, GeK, GeK₃, GeLi₃, Ge₅Li₂₂, Mg₂Ge, Ge₄Na, GeNa, GeNa₃, KSi, KC₄, K₄Si₂₃, K₄C₃, LiC, Li₄C₃, LiC₆, Li₂₂Si₅, Li₁₃Si₄, Li₇Si₃, Li₁₂Si₇, MgB₂, MgB₄, MgB₇, MgC₂, Mg₂C₃, Mg₂Si, NaB₆, NaB₁₅, NaB₁₆, Na₄C₃, NaC₄, NaSi, NaSi₂, or Na₄Si₂₃. An article including the storage material, and a system including the article are also provided.

Claims

1. A composition, comprising:

a storage material comprising at least one of AlLi, Al₂Li₃, Al₄Li₉, Al₃Mg₂, Al₁₂Mg₁₇, AlB₁₂, Al₄C₃, AlTi₂C, AlTi₃C, AlZrC₂, Al₃Zr₅C, Al₃Zr₂C₄, Al₃Zr₂C₇, AlB₂, AlB₁₂, AlSi, B₆Ca, B₆K, B₁₂Li, B₆Li, B₄Li, B₃Li, B₂Li, BLi, B₆Li₇, BLi₃, Ca₂Si, CaSi, CaSi₂, Ge₄K, GeK, GeK₃, GeLi₃, Ge₅Li₂₂, Mg₂Ge, Ge₄Na, GeNa, GeNa₃, KSi, KC₄, K₄Si₂₃, K₄C₃, LiC, Li₄C₃, LiC₆, Li₂₂Si₅, Li₁₃Si₄, Li₇Si₃, Li₁₂Si₇, MgB₂, MgB₄, MgB₇, MgC₂, Mg₂C₃, Mg₂Si, NaB₆, NaB₁₅, NaB₁₆, Na₄C₃, NaC₄, NaSi, NaSi₂, or Na₄Si₂₃.

2. The composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the storage material comprises at least two of AlLi, Al₂Li₃, Al₄Li₉, Al₃Mg₂, Al₁₂Mg₁₇, AlB₁₂, Al₄C₃, AlTi₂C, AlTi₃C, AlZrC₂, Al₃Zr₅C, Al₃Zr₂C₄, Al₃Zr₂C₇, AlB₂, AlB₁₂, AlSi, B₆Ca, B₆K, B₁₂Li, B₆Li, B₄Li, B₃Li, B₂Li, BLi, B₆Li₇, BLi₃, Ca₂Si, CaSi, CaSi₂, Ge₄K, GeK, GeK₃, GeLi₃, Ge₅Li₂₂, Mg₂Ge, Ge₄Na, GeNa, GeNa₃, KSi, KC₄, K₄Si₂₃, K₄C₃, LiC, Li₄C₃, LiC₆, Li₂₂Si₅, Li₁₃Si₄, Li₇Si₃, Li₁₂Si₇, MgB₂, MgB₄, MgB₇, MgC₂, Mg₂C₃, Mg₂Si, NaB₆, NaB₁₅, NaB₁₆, Na₄C₃, NaC₄, NaSi, NaSi₂, or Na₄Si₂₃.

3. The composition as defined in claim 1, further comprising an oxide material.

4. The composition as defined in claim 3, wherein the oxide material is selected from the group consisting of silica, alumina, ceria, titania, zirconia, tungsten oxide, and vanadium pentoxide.

5. The composition as defined in claim 3, where the oxide is a metal oxide.

6. The composition as defined in claim 5, wherein the metal oxide comprises one or more material selected from the group consisting of tungsten oxide, nickel oxide, cobalt oxide, manganese oxide, vanadium oxide, and molybdenum oxide.

7. The composition as defined in claim 1, further comprising a catalyst composition.

8. The composition as defined in claim 7, wherein the catalyst composition comprises one or more element of barium, calcium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, germanium, hafnium, iridium, lanthanum, manganese, molybdenum, niobium, osmium, rhenium, rhodium, ruthenium, silicon, titanium, tungsten, yttrium, or zirconium.

9. The composition as defined in claim 8, wherein the catalyst composition consists essentially of a single element selected from the group consisting of barium, calcium, chromium, cobalt, copper, iron, germanium, hafnium, iridium, lanthanum, manganese, molybdenum, niobium, osmium, rhenium, rhodium, ruthenium, silicon, titanium, tungsten, yttrium, or zirconium.

10. The composition as defined in claim 7, wherein the catalyst composition is present in an amount that is greater than about 0.1 weight percent based on the total weigth of the composition.

11. The composition as defined in claim 7, wherein the catalyst composition is present in an amount that is less than about 5 weight percent based on the total weigth of the composition.

12. The composition as defined in claim 7, wherein the catalyst composition defines a catalyst layer overlaying a surface of the storage material.

13. The composition as defined in claim 12, wherein the catalyst layer has an average thickness that is less than 1 micrometer.

14. The composition as defined in claim 13, wherein the catalyst layer has an average thickness in a range of in a range of from about 1 nanometer to about 10 nanometers.

15. The composition as defined in claim 12, wherein the catalyst layer is a discontinuous layer.

16. The composition as defined in claim 15, wherein the catalyst layer covers from about 10 percent to about 50 percent of the surface of the storage material.

17. The composition as defined in claim 1, further comprising a dopant selected from the elemental group consisting of aluminum, cobalt, gallium, germanium, lanthanum, manganese, nickel, silicon, titanium, vanadium, yttrium, and zirconium.

18. The composition as defined in claim 17, wherein the storage material comprises one or more of aluminum doped Ge₄K, aluminum doped GeK, aluminum doped GeK₃, aluminum doped GeLi₃, aluminum doped Ge₅Li₂₂, aluminum doped Mg₂Ge, aluminum doped Ge₄Na, aluminum doped GeNa, or aluminum doped GeNa₃.

19. The composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the storage material is a porous monolith.

20. The composition as defined in claim 1, wherein the storage material is a powder.

21. The composition as defined in claim 20, wherein the powder has a surface area of greater than about 50 square meters per gram.

22. The composition as defined in claim 20, wherein the powder comprises a plurality of particles having an average particle size of less than 100 nanometers.

23. The composition as defined in claim 20, wherein the powder comprises a plurality of particles having a bimodal particle distribution.

24. The composition as defined in claim 20, wherein the powder comprises a plurality of particles that are substantially spheriod.

25. A composition, comprising a hydride of the composition as defined in claim 1.

26. An article formed from the composition as defined in claim 1.

27. An article, comprising:

a storage material comprising one or more material having a formula selected from the group consisting of formulae (I), (II), (III), (IV) and (IV), wherein;

(Li_a, Na_b, K_c, Al_d, Mg_e, Ca_f)_x(B)_y  

 

(I)
(Li_a, Na_b, K_c, Al_d, Mg_e, Ca_f)_x(C)_y  

 

(II)
(Li_a, Na_b, Mg_c, K_d, Ca_e, Ge_f)_x(Al)_y  

 

(III)
(Li_a, Na_b, Mg_c, K_d, Ca_e, Al_f)_x(Ge)_y  

 

(IV)
(Li_a, Na_b, K_c, Al_d, Mg_e, Ca_f)_x(N, Si)_y  

 

(V)

where Al is aluminum, B is boron, C is carbon, Ca is calcium, Ge is germanium, K is potassium, Li is lithium, Mg is magnesium, Na is sodium, N is nitrogen, and Si is silicon;

a, b, c, d, e and f are the same or different from each other, and each independently have a value 0 or 1, provided that the sum a+b+c+d+e+f is 1 or greater; and

x and y each independently have a value in a range of from 1 to about 22.

28. A system, comprising:

a storage article comprising a storage material selected from the group consisting of AlLi, Al₂Li₃, Al₄Li₉, Al₃Mg₂, Al₁₂Mg₁₇, AlB₁₂, Al₄C₃, AlTi₂C, AlTi₃C, AlZrC₂, Al₃Zr₅C, Al₃Zr₂C₄, Al₃Zr₂C₇, AlB₂, AlB₁₂, AlSi, B₆Ca, B₆K, B₁₂Li, B₆Li, B₄Li, B₃Li, B₂Li, BLi, B₆Li₇, BLi₃, Ca₂Si, CaSi, CaSi₂, Ge₄K, GeK, GeK₃, GeLi₃, Ge₅Li₂₂, Mg₂Ge, Ge₄Na, GeNa, GeNa₃, KSi, KC₄, K₄Si₂₃, K₄C₃, LiC, Li₄C₃, LiC₆, Li₂₂Si₅, Li₁₃Si₄, Li₇Si₃, Li₁₂Si₇, MgB₂, MgB₄, MgB₇, MgC₂, Mg₂C₃, Mg₂Si, NaB₆, NaB₁₅, NaB₁₆, Na₄C₃, NaC₄, NaSi, NaSi₂, and Na₄Si₂₃; and

means for detection of hydrogen in communication with the storage article.

29. A system, comprising:

a storage article comprising hydrogen and a storage material selected from the group consisting of AlLi, Al₂Li₃, Al₄Li₉, Al₃Mg₂, Al₁₂Mg₁₇, AlB₁₂, Al₄C₃, AlTi₂C, AlTi₃C, AlZrC₂, Al₃Zr₅C, Al₃Zr₂C₄, Al₃Zr₂C₇, AlB₂, AlB₁₂, AlSi, B₆Ca, B₆K, B₁₂Li, B₆Li, B₄Li, B₃Li, B₂Li, BLi, B₆Li₇, BLi₃, Ca₂Si, CaSi, CaSi₂, Ge₄K, GeK, GeK₃, GeLi₃, Ge₅Li₂₂, Mg₂Ge, Ge₄Na, GeNa, GeNa₃, KSi, KC₄, K₄Si₂₃, K₄C₃, LiC, Li₄C₃, LiC₆, Li₂₂Si₅, Li₁₃Si₄, Li₇Si₃, Li₁₂Si₇, MgB₂, MgB₄, MgB₇, MgC₂, Mg₂C₃, Mg₂Si, NaB₆, NaB₁₅, NaB₁₆, Na₄C₃, NaC₄, NaSi, NaSi₂, and Na₄Si₂₃; and

means for desorbing hydrogen in communication with the storage article.