Generation of nanopores during desorption of NH3 from Mg(NH3)6Cl2.

It is shown that nanopores are formed during desorption of NH3 from Mg(NH3)6Cl2, which has been proposed as a hydrogen storage material. The system of nanopores facilitates the transport of desorbed ammonia away from the interior of large volumes of compacted storage material. DFT calculations show that there exists a continuous path from the initial Mg(NH3)6Cl2 material to MgCl2 that does not involve large-scale material transport. Accordingly, ammonia desorption from this system is facile.