The biggest hurdle in employing hydrogen as an alternative fuel source is the practical difficulties involved in its storage. Engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have succeeded in addressing this challenge by synthesizing a nanostructure with extraordinary hydrogen storage capabilities.
The familiar chemical compound from which the nanoparticles were synthesized is sodium borohydride (NaBH4). The nanoparticles were then ensconced in nickel shells to complete the nanostructure.
Dr Kondo-Francois Aguey-Zinsou from UNSW’s School of Chemical Engineering stated that they were the first to attempt and succeed in engineering sodium borohydride at nanoscale as the compound has always been deemed as difficult to synthesize at that level.
Hydrogen is considered as a promising fuel of the future that can be adopted to provide power to vehicles, buildings and transportable electronic products. All these applications depend on the ability to store hydrogen. Though borohydrides of sodium and lithium are considered as good storage mediums, they are limited by their inability to reabsorb the released energy. This ability to reabsorb is also referred to as reversibility.
The team at UNSW found that the properties including reversibility of this material could be controlled by the structure and size of the material. While sodium borohydride in its natural, bulk form releases hydrogen at temperatures exceeding 550°C, the material at nanoscale, exhibited energy release at just 50°C and more significant energy release at 350°C. The improvement in kinetic and thermodynamic properties of the material at nanoscale has opened a doorway for hydrogen as fuel of the future.
Source: http://www.unsw.edu.au/