I’ve talked many times in the past about chemical storage of hydrogen. On December 5 I had talked about a group of ESRF researchers developing lithium borohydride as a storage solution for hydrogen cars using hydrogen-on-demand technology.
Now, Ford and UCLA have teamed up to develop lithium borohydride (LiBH4), magnesium hydride (MgH2) and lithium amide (LiNH2) that, in combination, will release hydrogen at lower temperatures than will any one compound alone. The research was published in the Angewandte Chemie journal by project leader Jun Yang.
Yang described the process as an autocatalytic reaction among the three hydrogen-rich compounds. This means that once the temperature of 150 C is reached, this starts a chain reaction that releases the ultra-pure hydrogen.
No dangerous byproducts are created with this process and the chemicals may easily be recharged back into their original states, which makes them ideal for hydrogen-on-demand refueling.
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