New Hydrogen Storage Technology

[lhagood]

I ran across an interesting article on EurekAlert...here's a tease:

[snip]
Invention could solve 'bottleneck' in developing pollution-free cars

Hydrogen-powered cars that do not pollute the environment are a step closer thanks to a new discovery which promises to solve the main problem holding back the technology.

Whilst hydrogen is thought to be an ideal fuel for vehicles, producing only water on combustion, its widespread use has been limited by the lack of a safe, efficient system for onboard storage.

Scientists have experimented with ways of storing hydrogen by locking the gas into metal lattices, but metal hydrides only work at temperatures above 300°C and metal organic framework materials only work at liquid nitrogen temperatures (-198°C).

Now scientists at the University of Bath have invented a material which stores and releases hydrogen at room temperature, at the flick of a switch, and promises to help make hydrogen power a viable clean technology for the future.

Although its fuel to weight ratio is insufficient to make an entire hydrogen tank from it, the material could be used in combination with metal hydride sources to store and release energy instantaneously whilst the main tank reaches sufficient temperature, 300°C, to work.

They hope to have the fully-working prototype ready within two to three years.
[/snip]

For the complete article and links to the research, go to:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/ ... 120406.php

BTW - This a great site for breaking science and medical news. (rss capable)

--Larry