Single-crystal ZrCo nanoparticle for advanced hydrogen and H-isotope storage
Zhenyang Li, Shiyuan Liu, Yanhui Pu, Gang Huang, Yingbo Yuan, Ruiqi Zhu, Xufeng Li, Chunyan Chen, Gao Deng, Haihan Zou, Peng Yi, Ming Fang, Xinjun Sun, Junzhe He, He Cai, Jiaxiang Shang, Xiaofang Liu, Ronghai Yu, Jianglan Shui
Abstract
Hydrogen-isotope storage materials are essential for the controlled nuclear fusion. However, the currently used smelting-ZrCo alloy suffers from rapid degradation of performance due to severe disproportionation. Here, we reveal a defect-derived disproportionation mechanism and report a nano-single-crystal strategy to solve ZrCo's problems. Single-crystal nano-ZrCo is synthesized by a wet-chemistry method and exhibits excellent comprehensive hydrogen-isotope storage performances, including ultrafast uptake/release kinetics, high anti-disproportionation ability, and stable cycling, far superior to conventional smelting-ZrCo. Especially, a further incorporation of Ti into nano-ZrCo can almost suppress the disproportionation reaction. Moreover, a mathematical relationship between dehydrogenation temperature and ZrCo particle size is established. Additionally, a microwave method capable of nondestructively detecting the hydrogen storage state of ZrCo is developed. The proposed disproportionation mechanism and anti-disproportionation strategy will be instructive for other materials with similar problems.