Hydrogen has great promise as a fuel in personal and public transport vehicles, but applications have been hindered by problems with storage. Large-scale storage of hydrogen is difficult because of its weak intermolecular interactions. Present-day storage methods mainly utilize molecular hydrogen storage in either gaseous or liquid phases—however, these have pressure and temperature conditions that limit capacity.
While scientists have started to investigate nanoporous chemical materials as an option for gas storage, achieving high volumetric storage capacity is still a problem—until now.
Researchers at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in the Republic of Korea recently announced they have formulated a unique magnesium borohydride structure that can store up to 144 g/L of hydrogen per volume of pores, more than double the capacity of traditional methods, such as storing hydrogen as a gas in a liquid state.
These promising results may lead to the development of high-capacity hydrogen storage systems for critical automotive and transportation applications.
Nanopores are a perfect fit
The UNIST research team, led by associate professor of chemistry Hyunchul Oh,
overcame the challenge of low hydrogen storage capacity by leveraging advanced high-density adsorption technology using magnesium borohydride (Mg(BH4)2), a material the team synthesized. The compound’s framework has nanoscale pores and a partially negatively charged non-flat interior for hydrogen uptake.