Light metal hydrides and complex hydrides for hydrogen storage

TLDR

Hydrogen storage is essential for large‑scale PEM fuel‑cell vehicles, and recent advances in chemical storage make it a promising alternative to cryogenic, high‑pressure, or reforming approaches. This review surveys chemical hydrogen storage options and concentrates on the most advanced system in terms of capacity and kinetics. The focus is on catalyzed alanates, particularly NaAlH₄, as the leading candidate.

Abstract

The availability of feasible methods for hydrogen storage is one of the key-maybe the key-requirements for the large scale application of PEM fuel cells in cars. There are in principle four different approaches, i.e. cryostorage in liquid form, high pressure storage, storage in the form of a chemical compound which is converted to hydrogen by on-board reforming, or reversible chemical storage in different kinds of storage materials. New developments in the field of chemical storage make such systems attractive compared to the other options. This review will discuss the different possibilities for chemical storage of hydrogen and the focus on the presently most advanced system with respect to storage capacity and kinetics, i.e. catalyzed alanates, especially NaAlH(4).