Synthesis of vanadium-doped palladium nanoparticles for hydrogen storage materials

Palladium–vanadium (Pd/V) alloy nanoparticles stabilized with n-pentyl isocyanide were prepared as new hydrogen storage materials by a facile polyol-based synthetic route with tetraethylene glycol and NaOH at 250 °C. The size distribution of the nanoparticles thus obtained featured two peaks at 4.0 ± 1.1 and 1.4 ± 0.3 nm in diameter, which were the mixture of Pd/V alloy and Pd nanoparticles. The ratio between the number of Pd/V and that of Pd nanoparticles was 51:49, and the Pd:V ratio of the overall product was 9:1 in wt%, indicating that the 4.0 nm Pd/V nanoparticles were composed of 81% Pd and 19% V. The inclusion of vanadium caused the increase in the d-spacing and thus expansion of lattice constant. A rapid increase in hydrogen content at low H2 pressures was observed for the Pd/V nanoparticles, and a 0.47 wt% H2 adsorption capacity was achieved under a H2 pressure of 10 MPa at 303 K. Hydrogen storage performances of Pd/V alloy nanoparticles was superior compared with Pd nanoparticles.