Breakthrough in storage could be big boost for hydrogen cars
Tue 22 May 2007
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A new breakthrough in storage technology could remove a key barrier to the adoption of cars running on hydrogen. UK scientists have developed a compound of the element lithium which may make it practical to store enough hydrogen on-board fuel-cell-powered cars to enable them to drive over 300 miles before refuelling.
Achieving a greater driving range is considered essential if a mass market for fuel cell cars is to develop in future years. This has not been possible using current hydrogen storage technologies.
The breakthrough has been achieved by a team from the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire, under the auspices of the UK Sustainable Hydrogen Energy Consortium (UK-SHEC).
The UK-SHEC research has focused on a new approach which could enable hydrogen to be stored at a much higher density and within acceptable weight limits. The option involves a well-established process called 'chemisorption', in which atoms of a gas are absorbed into the crystal structure of a solid-state material and then released when needed. Scientists say that development work is now needed to further investigate the potential of this powder.
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