Hydrogen has been touted to be the ultimate clean power fuel, and no one denies its qualities. However, many challenges remain, including the safe storage and transport of Hydrogen fuel.
Despite numerous safety studies by universities, governments, and car makers like Toyota, Hydrogen still gets a bad reputation. People would like a storage solution that’s not a high-pressure tank.
Deakin university might have a solution: its researchers have discovered an energy-efficient way to capture hydrogen gas into a boron nitride powder. The powder has a large surface area relative to its volume, making it an ideal capture material.
Once the gas has been absorbed into the powder, it can be transported at normal atmospheric pressure, which is deemed safer than a high-pressure tank or liquid hydrogen. The researchers point out that their technique is also less energy-intensive and safer than the other storage alternatives.
When required for use as a fuel, the hydrogen can be freed by warming the power that can then be reused later for the same purpose. It remains to be seen if this technique can scale to an industrial scale and how practical it would be in real applications, but it’s a fascinating breakthrough.
Of course, there’s also the question of how hydrogen is generated in the first place, and hopefully, it will come from clean sources such as this experimental alloy or plants.
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