Binding in alkali and alkaline-earth tetrahydroborates: Special position of magnesium tetrahydroborate

Compounds of light elements and hydrogen are currently extensively studied due to their potential application in the field of hydrogen or energy storage. A number of new interesting tetrahydroborates that are especially promising due to their very high gravimetric hydrogen content were recently reported. However, the determination and understanding of their complex crystalline structures has created considerable debate. Metal tetrahydroborates, in general, form a large variety of structures ranging from simple for NaBH₄ to very complex for Mg(BH₄)₂. Despite the extensive discussion in the literature no clear explanation has been offered for this variety so far. In this paper we analyze the structural and electronic properties of a broad range of metal tetrahydroborates and reveal the factors that determine their structure: ionic bonding, the orientation of the BH₄ groups, and the coordination number of the metal cation. We show, in a simple way, that the charge transfer in the metal tetrahydroborates rationally explains the structural diversity of these compounds. Being ionic systems, the metal tetrahydroborates fall into the classification of Linus Pauling. By using the ionic radius for the BH₄ group as determined in this paper, this allows for structural predictions for new and mixed compounds.