Progress and perspectives on hydrogen storage and release in the negative hydrogen medium

Abstract

Hydrogen energy has attracted much attention as a clean energy source, but its large-scale application faces storage and transportation challenges. Negative hydrogen medium (metal hydrides and borohydrides) materials have become a research hotspot due to their efficient hydrogen storage capacity. Investigating the role of negative hydrogen in the structure of materials can improve our understanding of the various structural properties of hydrogen and provide valuable insights into the design of hydrogen-containing materials with new functionalities. This paper reviews the research progress on negative hydrogen medium in recent years. Specifically, they include magnesium hydride (MgH₂), sodium aluminum hydride (NaAlH₄), lithium borohydride (LiBH₄), ammonia borane (AB, NH₃BH₃), sodium borohydride (NaBH₄), and potassium borohydride (KBH₄). The catalytic performance of different catalysts used for hydrogen storage and release in the negative hydrogen medium in the last three years is summarized, and the structure–performance relationship of different catalysts for negative hydrogen medium is described on the nanoscale and atomic scale. The reasons for monolithic catalyst and light-enhanced hydrogen release performances are also described. The research progress on the regeneration of negative hydrogen materials is summarized from both computational and experimental perspectives. Finally, the main challenges and development prospects of the negative hydrogen medium in the future are put forward. This review contributes to the basic understanding of the design and mechanism studies of negative hydrogen medium catalysts and provides effective design principles for overcoming the problems of low rates of hydrogen storage and release and the difficulty of cyclic regeneration.