Synthesis and Characterization of Nanostructured Materials for Hydrogen Storage Applications
The technologies for hydrogen storage constitute the critical point for
the development of transport systems based on H2. In recent years the interest for
hydrogen storage in solid system has increased and in particular in some metals and
intermetallic compounds able to form phase hydride capable of reversibly absorb
large quantities of hydrogen at low temperatures. In this work a simple synthesis
for palladium clusters has been developed. Monodispersed palladium cluster can be
produced by reduction of K2PdCl4 in ethylene glycol (EG), that is known as alcoholic
reduction, using polyvynilpyrrolidone (PVP) as polymeric surface stabilizer. The
nano-sized palladium particles can be isolated in a polymer-embedded form, which is
free from aggregates and characterized by a polyhedral shape. The future activities
will involve the development of lightweight materials for hydrogen storage as the
synthesis of others nanostructured materials (for examples nanosized Magnesium) by
different approaches and preparation of metal-polymer nanocomposites stabilized
based on palladium and/or other noble metals able to determine the phenomenon of
spill-over.