Hydrogen uptake capacity of C2H4Sc and its ions: A density functional study.

We report the gravimetric hydrogen uptake capacity of C2H4Sc complex and isoelectronic ions using Density Functional Theory. We predict that C2H4Sc+ can bind maximum seven hydrogen molecules in dihydrogen form giving gravimetric uptake capacity of 16.2 wt %, larger by about 2 and 4 wt % than the neutral and anion, respectively. We also found that the interaction of hydrogen molecules with C2H4Sc+ ion is characteristically different than that with neutral and anion. Vibrational spectroscopic study reveals that C2H4Sc and isoelectronic ions are quantum mechanically stable with their characteristic change in respective identified mode. The large gravimetric H2 uptake capacity of C2H4Sc+ is well above the target specified by Department of Energy (DOE) by 2015. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]