VATIS UPDATE Article

A researcher at Florida State University (FSU), the United States, has designed new materials that could be used to store hydrogen fuel more efficiently in vehicles or other devices that use clean energy. Using complex mathematical equations and computer simulations, Jose Mendoza-Cortes, at FSU, designed porous materials of transition metals – compounds involving cobalt, iron or nickel – that cause hydrogen to bond with it.

This next-generation design could then be placed in a tank of a car that uses hydrogen for fuel. These new materials are made of Earth abundant elements and therefore are easily available. Mendoza-Cortes designed 270 compounds through these simulations and then tested their performance for hydrogen storage.

The idea is that since hydrogen will bind to the actual device, more hydrogen could be packed in and condensed into a tank. Because the hydrogen easily sticks to the device, the tank would never actually reach empty. Additionally, he found it would take a smaller energy expenditure to fill up the tank. “In other words, more hydrogen can be stored at lower pressures and room temperature, making some of these materials good for practical use,” said Mendoza-Cortes.