Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, ul. Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland.
Nano Lett. 2023 Feb 22;23(4):1267-1272. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c04434. Epub 2023 Jan 23.
Hydrogen is an important building block in global strategies toward a future green energy system. To make this transition possible, intense scientific efforts are needed, also in the field of materials science. Two-dimensional crystals, such as hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), are very promising in this regard, as it has been demonstrated that micrometer-sized flakes are excellent barriers to molecular hydrogen. However, it remains an open question whether large-area layers fabricated by industrially relevant methods preserve such promising properties. In this work, we show that electron-beam-induced splitting of water creates hBN bubbles that effectively store molecular hydrogen for weeks and under extreme mechanical deformation. We demonstrate that epitaxial hBN allows direct visualization and monitoring of the process of hydrogen generation by radiolysis of interfacial water. Our findings show that hBN is not only a potential candidate for hydrogen storage but also holds promise for the development of unconventional hydrogen production schemes.
氢是全球向未来绿色能源系统转型的重要基石。要实现这一转变，需要科学界付出巨大努力，材料科学领域也不例外。二维晶体，如六方氮化硼（hBN），在这方面具有很大的潜力，因为已经证明，微米级的薄片是阻止氢气渗透的优秀屏障。然而，通过工业相关方法制备的大面积层是否能保持这种有前途的特性仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。在这项工作中，我们表明，电子束诱导的水分解会产生 hBN 气泡，这些气泡可以有效地储存分子氢数周，并且在极端机械变形下也能保持稳定。我们证明了外延 hBN 可以直接可视化和监测界面水的辐射分解产生氢气的过程。我们的研究结果表明，hBN 不仅是一种有潜力的储氢候选材料，而且对于开发非传统的制氢方案也具有很大的潜力。
