Discovering the ideal material for reversible storage of hydrogen could become a less daunting task because of work by a team led by David Singh of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Condensed Matter Sciences Division. The challenge is to find a material that is efficient at storing hydrogen yet also has attractive thermodynamic properties that allow the hydrogen to be efficiently retrieved. Many intermetallic compounds are good for one but not both. In a paper published in Physical Review Letters (PRL 95, 056403, July 29, 2005), Singh and colleagues outline an approach found by computational modeling that allows them to tweak intermetallic compounds materials composed of two or more elemental metals. Included in the paper are some unexpected findings about materials with identical crystal structure but dissimilar hydrogen absorption properties. Ultimately, this research, funded by DOE's Office of Basic Energy Sciences, could help make fuel cell-powered vehicles a feasible alternative.
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