A new solution for storing hydrogen fuel for alternative energy

 

---

Turning the "hydrogen economy" concept into a reality, even on a small scale, has been a bumpy road, but scientists are developing a novel way to store hydrogen to smooth out the long-awaited transition away from fossil fuels. Their report on a new solid, stable material that can pack in a large amount of hydrogen that can be used as a fuel appears in the ACS journal Chemistry of Materials.

Umit B. Demirci and colleagues explain that storing hydrogen in solids is a recent development and a promising step toward building a hydrogen economy. That's the idea originated in the 1970s and promoted by former President George W. Bush that we replace fossil fuels with hydrogen, which can serve as a clean fuel. Although a promising alternative to conventional energy sources, hydrogen has posed a number of technological challenges that scientists are still overcoming. One of those issues has to do with storage. Previously, researchers were focused on developing hydrogen-containing liquids or compressing it in gas form. Now, solid storage is showing potential for holding hydrogen in a safe, stable and efficient way. In the latest development on this front, Demirci's team looked to a new kind of material.

They figured out a way to make a novel crystal phase of a material containing lithium, boron and the key ingredient, hydrogen. To check how they could get the hydrogen back out of the material, the scientists heated it and found that it released hydrogen easily, quickly and only traces of unwanted by-products.

---

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by American Chemical Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

---

Journal Reference:

1. Romain Moury, Umit B. Demirci, Voraksmy Ban, Yaroslav Filinchuk, Takayuki Ichikawa, Liang Zeng, Kiyotaka Goshome, Philippe Miele. Lithium Hydrazinidoborane: A Polymorphic Material with Potential for Chemical Hydrogen Storage. Chemistry of Materials, 2014; 140515111242000 DOI: 10.1021/cm500980b