Russian scientists, in collaboration with international counterparts, have achieved a groundbreaking feat in the realm of hydrogen energy. They’ve successfully synthesized a compound with the potential to revolutionize the storage and transportation of hydrogen, a key hurdle in the expansion of hydrogen-based energy solutions.
Quartz glass, when infused with lithium oxide, becomes a remarkable container material for hydrogen. This development could offer a solution to one of the most pressing challenges in hydrogen energy – safe and efficient storage and transportation.
Hydrogen is celebrated as an eco-friendly fuel due to its clean combustion, producing only water vapor without harmful carbon dioxide emissions. However, its widespread adoption faces formidable barriers. Hydrogen is highly explosive and volatile, and it poses a risk to the integrity of storage tanks.
The prevailing solution to this challenge involves storing hydrogen in a solid state within chemical compounds known as hydrides. These compounds can hold up to 20% hydrogen by weight. However, releasing hydrogen from hydrides requires high temperatures, limiting their practicality.
To overcome this limitation, scientists have explored adsorbed hydrogen storage – where special materials adsorb and release hydrogen molecules as needed. Organometallic compounds and zeolites have been considered for this purpose, but they can only release hydrogen at extremely low temperatures, close to the temperature of liquid nitrogen.
In a breakthrough discovery, Russian scientists have identified quartz glass with added lithium oxide, or lithium silicate glass, as the optimal medium for hydrogen storage. Unlike some other materials where hydrogen becomes chemically bonded, in lithium silicate glass, hydrogen retains its molecular state. The addition of lithium oxide grants the glass unique properties, enabling the release of hydrogen at temperatures ranging from 10 to 100°C. Furthermore, it reduces hydrogen diffusion within the material, prolonging the release time.
Vadim Efimchenko, head of the RSF grant and a leading researcher at ISSP RAS, explained, “Changing the spectra of hydrogen in lithium silicate glass over time allowed us to calculate the energy of hydrogen release from the glass surface and estimate the time required for its release at different temperatures. Further research found that diffusion has a great influence on the stability of hydrogen solutions in massive lithium-silicate glass, which increases the hydrogen release time several times.”
The utilization of this innovative material could simplify the storage and transportation of hydrogen, marking a significant stride in overcoming one of the primary challenges faced by hydrogen energy.
