Solid-State Hydrogen Storage for a Decarbonized Society

Abstract

Humanity is confronted with one of the most significant challenges in its history. The excessive use of fossil fuel energy sources is causing extreme climate change, which threatens our way of life and poses huge social and technological problems. It is imperative to look for alternate energy sources that can replace environmentally destructive fossil fuels. In this scenario, hydrogen is seen as a potential energy vector capable of enabling the better and synergic exploitation of renewable energy sources. A brief review of the use of hydrogen as a tool for decarbonizing our society is given in this work. Special emphasis is placed on the possibility of storing hydrogen in solid-state form (in hydride species), on the potential fields of application of solid-state hydrogen storage, and on the technological challenges solid-state hydrogen storage faces. A potential approach to reduce the carbon footprint of hydrogen storage materials is presented in the concluding section of this paper.

Self-assembled Ni-Rh bimetallic catalyst for the exceptional performance and stability of direct methane protonic ceramic fuel cells

“…Among various approaches, a direct methane PCFC, which directly uses methane as a fuel through a methane steam reforming reaction (CH 4 + H 2 O CO + 3H 2 , ΔH 293K = 206 kJ/mol) at its fuel electrode, is a rational strategy to overcome the technical and economic challenges of transitioning to a fully hydrogen-based economy 9 . Methane is a good candidate for alternative fuel due to its ~ 3-fold higher volumetric energy density (~ 10 MJ/L at 250 bar) than hydrogen (~ 3 MJ/L at 350 bar) 10 . Additionally, it is storable and transportable using existing infrastructures, such as tanks and gas pipelines.…”

Sustainable NaAlH4 production from recycled automotive Al alloy

“…Hydrogen has attracted great interest in recent decades as an efficient energy carrier, able to support the transition from fossil fuel-based to renewable-based energy sources. 1–4 However, due to its low volumetric density, 5 even if compressed or liquefied, the utilization of hydrogen for storing large quantities of energy is challenging. 6 The volumetric hydrogen density can be sensibly increased by chemically binding hydrogen to metals, metalloids, and metal alloys.…”

“…Taking the current situation of Al production into consideration, when pursuing large-scale production of NaAlH 4 from pure Al, the economical and environmental consequences that such process will entail should be taken into account. 4,46,47 On the one side, reducing the cost of synthesizing NaAlH 4 is of great importance. London Metal Exchange (LME) shows that Al has a price of around 2700 US$ per ton, while the price for Al scraps is about 1980 US$ per ton (∼27% cost saving).…”

Transformation Kinetics of LiBH4–MgH2 for Hydrogen Storage

“…Countless studies have been devoted to storing power from these intermittent sources. In addition to electrical energy storage, another important option is to store energy in the form of hydrogen in various media [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. Hydrogen as a zero-carbon fuel can deliver an excellent energy density of approximately 120 MJ/kg.…”