Katarina Batalović

Hydrogen diffusion in MgH2 doped with Ti, Mn and Fe

Incorporation of suitable dopants in MgH2 is widely investigated as the way of improving hydrogen storage characteristics of this material. The catalytic role of transition metal dopants on hydrogen desorption from MgH2 is very promising, but further attention is required in order to optimize the experimental methods and design materials with desired properties. In this paper we investigate the role of Ti, Fe, and Mn on the transport properties of hydrogen in MgH2, which are marked as limiting factor in the effort to lower the hydrogen desorption temperature. Taking into account the lattice relaxation around the impurities, we consider a number of different diffusion paths in the pure and doped system. Using PAW DFT calculations in combination with the NEB method, we demonstrate that the diffusion of the most relevant positively charged hydrogen vacancy and negatively charged interstitial hydrogen atom is locally hindered by the presence of the impurity atoms.

Interstitial hydrogen in Laves phases – local electronic structure modifications from first-principles

Understanding the microscopic aspect of the hydride formation process provides an insight into the experimentally observed properties of prospective hydrogen storage materials. In this paper, we have studied the local structural and electronic modifications induced by hydrogen absorption in cubic C15 Laves phases AB2 (A = Zr; B = Cr, Mn, Ni), as well as the stability of the formed hydrides, by means of density functional theory (DFT). To address the effect of hydrogen absorbed in one of three tetrahedral sites (96g, 32e, and 8b) on the electronic structure of its surrounding atoms, we have calculated the electric field gradient (EFG) on the position of Cr, Mn, and Ni in pure and hydrogenated compounds. EFG is associated with the hydrogen site-preference, and formation enthalpies of ZrB2H hydrides are used to examine their formation feasibility. Obtained enthalpies reveal that ZrMn2H and ZrNi2H are both unstable regardless of the occupied site, and the only attainable hydride is ZrCr2H, with comparable occupational probability of sites 96g and 32e. EFG results indicate that a hydrogen distribution within the crystal depends on the level of induced electronic structure modifications; i.e., the hydrogen site-preference is governed by the condition of minimal divergence of the electronic charge from its initial distribution.