H-trap

The chassis and body panels of a car may one day store the vehicle's fuel, doing away with the bulky tank altogether. That's one possible consequence of research into new ways to contain hydrogen.

The elusive gas's ability to escape from most materials is one of the barriers hindering the development of a hydrogen economy. Currently reinforced pressure vessels are used to contain it but methods to attach hydrogen molecules to porous solids are being investigated because they could make storage and transportation significantly easier.

'The greatest obstacle to the development of hydrogen-powered cars is the lack of a system for safe, efficient and convenient on-board storage of hydrogen,' said Prof Neil McKeown of

, who is working with Dr Peter Budd of

to trap the gas in porous polymers.

Organic polymers had not been investigated as materials for storage of hydrogen until McKeown's development of polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) in 2000. He came up with the idea of a rigid polymer with a molecular structure that does not pack easily and so has a very large surface area.