Qifeng Zhang
University of Washington, Materials Science and Engineering, Faculty Member
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Engineering, Titanium, Crystallization, Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, and 16 moreAtomic Layer Deposition, Zinc Oxide, Solar Energy, Physical sciences, Dye Sensitized Solar cell, Nanostructures, CHEMICAL SCIENCES, Particle Size, Electroplating, Surface Properties, Advanced, Titanium oxide, Molecular Conformation, Materials Testing, Equipment Design, and Equipment Failure Analysis
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Ammonia borane (AB) is of great interest for storing hydrogen, an important issue in the growing field of hydrogen technology. The reaction pathways leading to the thermal decomposition of solid-state AB incorporated in carbon cryogels... more
Ammonia borane (AB) is of great interest for storing hydrogen, an important issue in the growing field of hydrogen technology. The reaction pathways leading to the thermal decomposition of solid-state AB incorporated in carbon cryogels (CC) have been studied by spectroscopic methods. The time-dependent thermal decomposition was followed by in situ 11B nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and showed a significant increase in hydrogen release kinetics for AB in CC compared to neat AB. Both 11B NMR and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy show a new reaction product, formed in the thermal decomposition of AB in CC scaffold (CC-AB) that is assigned to reactions with surface oxygen groups. The results indicate that incorporation of AB in CC enhances kinetics because of the reactions with residual surface-bound oxygen functional groups. The formation of new products with surface -O-B bonds is consistent with the greater reaction exothermicity observed when hydrogen is released from CC-AB materials. Scanning electron microscopy shows different morphology of AB in CC-AB nanocomposite as compared to neat AB.