A DFT Investigation on Hydrogen Adsorption Based on Alkali-metal Organic Complexes

Using density functional theory calculation based on the B3LYP method,we have studied the interactions of H2 molecules with alkali-metal organic complexes C6H6-nLin(n = 1～3),C6H5Na and C6H5K.A significant part of the electronic charge of M s orbital(Li 2s,Na 3s,K 4s) is donated to phenyl and is accommodated by H2 bonding orbital.For all the complexes considered,each bonded alkali-metal atom can adsorb up to five H2 in molecular form with the mean binding energy of 0.59,0.55 and 0.56 eV/H2 molecule for C6H6-nLin(n = 1～3),C6H5Na and C6H5K,respectively.The kinetic stability of these hydrogen-covered organometallic complexes is discussed in terms of energy gap between HOMO and LUMO.It is remarkable that these alkali-metal organic complexes can store up to 23.80 wt% hydrogen.Therefore,the complexes studied may be used as hydrogen storage materials.