The role of differently distributed vanadium nanocatalyst in the hydrogen storage of magnesium nanostructures

Using a glancing angle (co)deposition technique, ∼4.6 at.% V has been coated on the surface of individual Mg nanoblades and doped into Mg nanostructures fabricated at different deposition angles. The hydrogen storage properties of the formed V-decorated and V-doped Mg nanostructures depend strongly on how the nanocatalyst V is surrounded by the host Mg. The V-doped Mg sample has lower activation energies for hydrogen absorption (Eaa = 35.3 ± 0.9 kJ/mol H2) and hydrogen desorption (Ead = 38.9 ± 0.3 kJ/mol H2) than the V-decorated Mg sample when deposited at the same deposition angle of θ = 70°. The activation energies of the doped samples increase gradually with the decrease of the θ angle. We also find that the porosity of the Mg nanostructures plays a secondary role. A phenomenological model based on a heterogeneous reaction is proposed to explain the different hydrogen desorption activation energies obtained for different V–Mg nanostructured samples.