New form of hydride for hydrogen-fuelled cars

Scientists at the European Synchrotron Research Facility (ESRF) have discovered a new form of hydride that they say brings hydrogen fuelled cars one step closer.

Lithium borohydride is a promising energy storage system because it can store a high level of hydrogen. The drawback currently is that it only releases this hydrogen at temperatures above 300C. Now the team at the ESRF has found a new form of the compound that could release hydrogen in mild conditions.

The variant was discovered under high pressure conditions but the researchers believe it should be possible to use molecular substitutions to make the compound stable at ambient temperatures.  Once this is done they will check whether it shows more favorable hydrogen storage properties than pure lithium borohydride.