Aluminium compound holds promise for hydrogen storage

Lightweight interstitial hydrides - compounds in which hydrogen atoms occupy the spaces between metal atoms - have been proposed as a safe and efficient means for storing hydrogen for fuel cell vehicles.

Hydrides using magnesium, sodium and boron have been manufactured none have proven practical as a hydrogen repository.

An aluminium-based alloy hydride is claimed to offer a more viable candidate because it has the desired traits of: light weight, no toxicity to plants and animals, and absence of volatile gas products except for hydrogen.

Until now, however, only complex aluminium hydrides that are unsuitable for use as a hydrogen storage system have been created.

In an APL Materials paper a joint research group with members from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency and Tohoku University announced that it had achieved the goal of a simple-structured, aluminium-based interstitial alloy.

Their compound, Al2CuHx, was synthesized by hydrogenating Al2Cu at 10 gigapascals and a temperature of 800 degrees Celsius.