A storage system for hydrogen fuel cell technology can now be a reality. An international research team has synthesized a manganese hydride molecular sieve from inexpensive precursors using a materials-based approach. The storage system demonstrates a reversible excess adsorption performance of 10.5 wt% and 197 kg hydrogen/m3 at 120 bar at ambient temperature with no loss of activity after 54 cycles.
The manganese hydride material is able to minimize and even eliminate external heat management requirements, acting as its own intrinsic Nanoscale heat sink. The total energy storage costs for the molecular sieve are estimated to be about five times less than those for 700 bar tanks.
The storage device’s design and performance are expected to meet or surpass the U.S. Department of Energy’s system targets of 6.5 wt% and 50 kg hydrogen/m3 for 5 kg of hydrogen, the fuel volume required to sustain a 500 km driving range in a fuel cell vehicle.
