The success of hydrogen as our energy carrier of the future will require breakthroughs in the technologies we use to produce, store and use hydrogen. One of the most demanding challenges is hydrogen storage, which has been identified as the bottleneck in the development of hydrogen-fueled vehicles. The difficulty is that hydrogen is a gas under ambient conditions and is difficult to store in a compact and lightweight package.
Scientists at Brookhaven are working toward developing solid-state hydrogen storage materials in which a metal or compound is used to “host” hydrogen atoms. This group is developing new storage materials and catalysts to enhance hydrogen uptake and release. Instruments at the National Synchrotron Light Source and the Center for Functional Nanomaterials are being used to prepare new materials and develop a better fundamental understanding of reversible hydrogen storage in the solid state.
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Last Modified: November 04, 2009