LOS ANGELES, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists says they've developed a robust, efficient method of storing hydrogen, bringing practical hydrogen fuel cells one step closer.
Hydrogen is an excellent fuel because it can easily be converted to electricity in a fuel cell and because it is carbon-free, but its downside is that because it is a gas it can only be stored in high pressure or in cryogenic tanks.
If you were riding in a vehicle with a tank full of hydrogen, "if you got into a wreck, you'd have a problem," Travis Williams, professor of chemistry at the University of Southern California, said.
Williams and his team have 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, a USC release said Tuesday.
The team has developed a catalyst system that can release enough hydrogen from its storage in the stable solid to make it usable as a fuel source. The system is lightweight and efficient enough to have potential fuel applications ranging from motor-driven cycles to small aircraft, Williams said.
