New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel cells: Chemists develop way to safely store, extract hydrogen

Date:
August 30, 2011
Source:
University of Southern California
Summary:
A team of scientists has developed a robust, efficient method of using hydrogen as a fuel source.
Share:
FULL STORY

A team of USC scientists has developed a robust, efficient method of using hydrogen as a fuel source.

Hydrogen makes a great fuel because of it can easily be converted to electricity in a fuel cell and because it is carbon free. The downside of hydrogen is that, because it is a gas, it can only be stored in high pressure or cryogenic tanks.

In a vehicle with a tank full of hydrogen, "if you got into a wreck, you'd have a problem," said Travis Williams, assistant professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College.

A possible solution is to store hydrogen in a safe chemical form. Earlier this year, Williams and his team figured out a way to release hydrogen from an innocuous chemical material -- a nitrogen-boron complex, ammonia borane -- that can be stored as a stable solid.

Now the team has developed a catalyst system that releases enough hydrogen from its storage in ammonia borane to make it usable as a fuel source. Moreover, the system is air-stable and re-usable, unlike other systems for hydrogen storage on boron and metal hydrides.

The research was published this month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

"Ours is the first game in town for reusable, air stabile ammonia borane dehydrogenation," Williams said, adding that the USC Stevens Institute is in the process of patenting the system.

The system is sufficiently lightweight and efficient to have potential fuel applications ranging from motor-driven cycles to small aircraft, he said.

The research was funded by the Hydrocarbon Research Foundation and the National Science Foundation.


Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Southern California. Original written by Robert Perkins. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Brian L. Conley, Denver Guess, Travis J. Williams. A Robust, Air-Stable, Reusable Ruthenium Catalyst for Dehydrogenation of Ammonia Borane. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 2011; 110818113439060 DOI: 10.1021/ja2058154

Cite This Page:

University of Southern California. "Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel cells: Chemists develop way to safely store, extract hydrogen." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 August 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110830151234.htm>.
University of Southern California. (2011, August 30). Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel cells: Chemists develop way to safely store, extract hydrogen. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110830151234.htm
University of Southern California. "Breakthrough in hydrogen fuel cells: Chemists develop way to safely store, extract hydrogen." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110830151234.htm (accessed March 28, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES