Curvature and ionization-induced reversible hydrogen storage in metalized hexagonal B36.

The synthesis of quasiplanar boron clusters (B36) with a central hexagonal hole provides the first experimental evidence that a single-atomic-layer borophene with hexagonal vacancies is potentially viable [Z. Piazza, H. Hu, W. Li, Y. Zhao, J. Li, and L. S. Wang, Nat. Commun. 5, 3113 (2014)]. However, owing to the hexagonal holes, tunning the electronic and physical properties of B36 through chemical modifications is not fully understood. Based on (van der Waals corrected-) density functional theory, we show that Li adsorbed on B36 and B36 (-) clusters can serve as reversible hydrogen storage media. The present results indicate that the curvature and ionization of substrates can enhance the bond strength of Li due to the energetically favorable B 2p-Li 2p orbitals hybridization. Both the polarization mechanism and the orbital hybridization between H-s orbitals and Li-2s2p orbitals contribute to the adsorption of H2 molecules and the resulting adsorption energy lies between the physisorbed and chemisorbed states. Interestingly, the number of H2 in the hydrogen storage medium can be measured by the appearance of the negative differential resistance behavior at different bias voltage regions. Furthermore, the cluster-assembled hydrogen storage materials constructed by metalized B36 clusters do not cause a decrease in the number of adsorbed hydrogen molecules per Li. The system reported here is favorable for the reversible hydrogen adsorption/desorption at ambient conditions.