The power of lithium borohydride in energy storage

Lthium borohydride, is a promising energy storage system: it contains 18 weight percents of hydrogen, which makes it attractive for use in hydrogen-fueled cars. Its drawback is that it only releases hydrogen at quite high temperatures (above 300° C). The team at the ESRF has found a new form of the compound that could possibly release hydrogen in mild conditions.

Recent researches presents a breakthrough in experimental studies of hydrogen-rich system, explains the failure of the previous theoretical predictions and suggests the novel form of the compound to be instrumental in obtaining improved hydrogen storage materials. Synchrotron radiation was recently successfully applied to potential hydrogen storage materials and it turns out to be more useful than generally expected for so light systems.