The Revolutionary Hydrogen Storage Material: Doubling the Storage Density of Pressurized Liquid Hydrogen
Korean scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery in the field of hydrogen storage. They have successfully created a material that boasts a highly remarkable hydrogen storage density. This new level of storage density is twice as much as that of pressurized liquid hydrogen, making this material a significant advancement in the area.
Additional details on this research can be found on New Atlas.
Hydrogen carries an energy content per mass unit that is nearly triple that of gasoline and diesel oil. However, its low density makes storage a complex task. At standard atmospheric pressure and temperature, hydrogen’s energy density is roughly three watt hours per liter.
There are several ways to store hydrogen. One method is to store it as a gas, but this requires a very high pressure of up to 700 bar. Alternatively, hydrogen can be converted into a liquid state for storage, but it must be chilled to approximately -253 degrees Celsius. Scientists are also exploring chemical storage solutions for hydrogen, where metal hybrids could be used for storage.
Porous materials have shown potential for hydrogen storage. These materials can hold large amounts of hydrogen per unit mass. However, until now, storing substantial amounts of energy in a small volume has not been achievable.
Scientists from the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) have synthesized a nanoporous material from magnesium borohydride Mg(BH₄)₂. Hydrogen is physically absorbed into this nanoporous material. In addition to hydrogen, nitrogen can also enter the material’s pores, with the molecules occupying different parts of the pores.
One major advantage of pressurized liquid hydrogen is its high storage density. The material developed by the Korean scientists has surpassed this storage density. The porous material’s storage density at standard atmospheric pressure is 144 g/l, whereas the density for cryogenic storage of liquefied hydrogen is 70.8 g/l.
The researchers believe their new material could solve key problems relating to hydrogen storage, particularly those connected to storage scaling. The material may not be ideal for aviation due to its mass being greater than that of liquid hydrogen with tanks.
The results of this study have been published in the esteemed journal, Nature Chemistry.
