Nanosheets show promise for storing hydrogen

Nanosheets of hydrogen boride have great potential to store hydrogen, a promising source of clean energy.

Hydrogen is the ultimate clean fuel, emitting only water when burned. Much research is going on to develop hydrogen-powered vehicles and other devices. But to realize this technology, materials that can store large amounts of hydrogen are needed.

Now, a team that was co-led by a researcher at the University of Tsukuba in Japan has discovered that hydrogen boride nanosheets, a material discovered in 2017, can store significant amounts of hydrogen — up to 8% by weight. The stored hydrogen can then be released under at room pressure and temperature by shining ultraviolet light on the nanosheets.

This ability to store and release hydrogen adds to the many excellent properties of hydrogen boride nanosheets that are already known.