Nanomaterials for solid state hydrogen storage

未来的能源系统必须更清洁、更高效、更灵活、更可靠，以满足全球日益增长的能源需求。氢经济为满足全球能源需求提供了一种潜在的解决方案，同时减少(并最终消除)二氧化碳和其他温室气体排放，提高能源安全。它还消除了人类对化石燃料的依赖。在全面实施氢经济之前，必须克服三大障碍：(1)廉价地生产纯氢气，(2)使用氢驱动汽车的燃料电池的技术改进，以及(3)氢存储，特别是汽车的车载存储。后者要求氢气具有较高的体积密度和重量密度、较低的操作脱附温度、快速的吸附/脱附动力学、可逆性和低价格。固体氢化物能像海绵水一样吸氢，可以满足所有的储氢要求。然而，在它们成为可行的储氢材料之前，必须改善它们的储氢性能以满足要求。添加催化剂，并将内部(颗粒)和外部(颗粒)尺寸细化到10E-9m量级，比人头发的直径小许多倍，可以显著改善固体氢化物的储氢性能。在这项研究中，我们将合成和研究新型纳米结构氢化物，以提高其储氢性能。将专门研究各种选定氢化物的纳米复合材料。

Energy systems of the future must be cleaner and much more efficient, flexible, and reliable to meet the growing global demand for energy.  The Hydrogen Economy offers a potential solution to satisfying the global energy requirements while reducing (and eventually eliminating) carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy security. It also eliminates the reliance of humanity on the fossil fuels.Before the Hydrogen Economy could be fully implemented three major obstacles should be overcome: (i) inexpensive production of pure hydrogen gas, (ii) technological improvement of fuel cells that would use hydrogen to run automobiles and (iii) hydrogen storage and in particular, on-board storage in an automobile. The latter requires high volumetric and gravimetric density of hydrogen, low operating desorption temperature, fast sorption/desorption kinetics, reversibility and low price. Storage of hydrogen in solid hydrides which absorb hydrogen like sponge water could meet all the requirements. However, before they become viable hydrogen storage materials, their hydrogen storage properties must be improved to meet the requirements. Addition of catalysts combined with the refinement of internal (grains) and external (particle) dimensions to the order of 10E-9 m, many times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, can substantially improve hydrogen storage properties of solid hydrides. In this study novel nanostructured hydrides will be synthesized and investigated with the aim to improve their hydrogen storage properties. Nanocomposites of various selected hydrides will be specifically investigated.