Tracking diffusion of hydrogen through potassium and sodium hydride intercalated graphite with μSR

The principal objective of this proposal is to determine the mobility of hydrogen in KH and NaH intercalated graphite, which are both highly active ammonia synthesis catalysts.

Building on Xpress measurements done at EMU, we ask for 4 days on EMU to conduct muon spectroscopy measurements over a temperature range of 160–560 K in order to quantify the diffusion of hydrogen within these graphitic materials. It is currently hypothesised that hydrogen’s mobility within the graphitic layers is directly related to these material’s catalytic ability.