Characterization of deposited Ti-doped lithium aluminium hydride thin film using dip coating method

Abstract

Lithium aluminium hydride (LiAlH4) is an outstanding complex metal hydride as a hydrogen storage material. The hydrogen storage capacity of LiAlH4 is about 5-7 wt%. In this study, LiAlH4 concentration of 20 g/l doped with various titanium (Ti) concentration by dip coating method was examined. The titanium dioxide (TiO2) powder at 10 mol %, 25 mol % and 40 mol % was used as the Ti source. Instruments used to analyze Ti-doped LiAlH4 were X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). XRD was used for phase and crystallite size analysis and SEM was used for surface morphology investigation. The experimental results reveal that at the LiAlH4 concentration of 20 g/l with 40 mol% of TiO2, the smallest crystallite size with rather dense surface was shown. The small crystallite size can improve the desorption of hydrogen from its surface area. Therefore, the addition of titanium might be advantageous in improving the hydrogen storage efficiency of LiAlH4.