Transforming Acidic Corrosion and Embrittlement into a Hydrogen-Trapping Cage
Abstract
The vision of a hydrogen economy demands efficient platforms to close the gap between sustainable proton sources and solid-state hydrogen carriers. Metal hydrides serve as key carriers, yet their synthesis remains constrained by the energy-intensive use of high-pressure H2, which fragments the hydrogen chain. Here, we overturn this paradigm by transforming two classic degradation mechanisms, acidic corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement, into a constructive materials-design strategy. We demonstrate that synergistic control of these processes in acid enables the in-situ engineering of a "hydrogen-trapping cage" (HTC) microstructure within metals. Composed of a dense defect network, this cage directly captures and stabilizes protons as hydrides under mild conditions, guided by the universal criterion |DeltaPeq| > DeltaPph. Using this platform, we synthesize over 20 hydrides, including challenging targets such as LiH and NaH, and showcase its functional power with a cage-rich titanium hydride electrocatalyst. This catalyst achieves an exceptional current density of 1.07 A cm-2 for nitrate-to-ammonia conversion, attributed to rapid H- transport within the engineered cage. This work establishes a transformative "failure-to-function" paradigm, delivering an integrated platform that unifies hydrogen capture, stabilization, and conversion.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2506.05481,
title = {Transforming Acidic Corrosion and Embrittlement into a Hydrogen-Trapping Cage},
author = {Ankang Chen and Jiewen Liu and Zihao Huo and Chuang Liu and Yongming Sui and Xuan Liu and Qingkun Yuan and Yan Li and Guangtong Wang and Bao Yuan and Defang Duan and Gang Liu and Bo Zou},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.05481},
year = {2026}
}