Unusual oxidation behavior of light metal hydride by tetrahydrofuran solvent molecules confined in ordered mesoporous carbon

Confining light metal hydrides in micro- or mesoporous scaffolds is considered to be a promising way to overcome the existing challenges for these materials, e.g. their application in hydrogen storage. Different techniques exist which allow us to homogeneously fill pores of a host matrix with the respective hydride, thus yielding well defined composite materials. For this report, the ordered mesoporous carbon CMK-3 was taken as a support for LiAlH₄ realized by a solution impregnation method to improve the hydrogen desorption behavior of LiAlH₄ by nanoconfinement effects. It is shown that upon heating, LiAlH₄ is unusually oxidized by coordinated tetrahydrofuran solvent molecules. The important result of the herein described work is the finding of a final composite containing nanoscale aluminum oxide inside the pores of the CMK-3 carbon host instead of a metal or alloy. This newly observed unusual oxidation behavior has major implications when applying these compounds for the targeted synthesis of homogeneous metal–carbon composite materials.