Abstract :
The project aims to develop new hydrogen storage materials and an experimental hydrogen storage container able to meet the requirements of the fuel cells. The novelty consists in approaching, with new methods catalysts and procedures, the types of hydrogen storage compounds on which the attention is focused now in Europe, USA and Asian countries. The most promising types of compounds will be studied in parallel, by making use of the complementary competences of the partners, to improve the performances for each type with their own problems and peculiarities:
- for amide-hydride complex systems which still need the lowering of hydrogen desorption temperature and the increase of absorption/desorption rates - new catalysts based on organmetallic compounds will be studied in order to find correlations between the surface state of hydrogen and the catalytic activity for hydrogen transfer from the gas into the solid phase, able to lead to catalyst tailoring and to improve the storage performances;
- hydrides of NdNiIn type intermetallics, in which the H-H distances are lower than 0,21 nm (considered critical till recently) - an improved understanding of electronic interactions between the components and their effects on the H-H distances should help to explain why the H atoms may lie closer to each other and might open new ways for improved storage capacities.
An experimental
hydrogen storage container will be developed and tested, using the materials with the best characteristics obtained during the stages of the project, developing new technical solutions and aiming to meet the requirements of on-board hydrogen storage for applications to fuel cells. The objectives of the project are comparable to those of the international projects on this topic. The achievement of the scientific and technical objectives proposed will result in increasing of the competences of the research groups involved, leading to an excellence level able to ensure the integration within the European " Hydrogen and Fuel Cells" Platform and the participation of the Romanian groups to the FP7.
Sustainable development is a fundamental goal of the EU and the High Level Group on Hydrogen and Fuel Cells established by the European Commission [1] to help steer the way towards the introduction of hydrogen in the energy economy of the Union. As one of the most promising alternative fuels for transport, Hydrogen offers the long-term potential for an energy system that produces near-zero emissions and which can be based on renewable energy sources. In the vision of the European Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Platform, as expressed by the Chairman of the Steering Panel Deployment Strategy, Dr. Klaus Scheuerer [2] " there is no doubt whatsoever that the hydrogen path is the right way". The Joint Research Centre (JRC), a Directorate-General of the European Commission is researching safe methods for storing hydrogen, for use in fuel cells or modified combustion engines in cars and other road vehicles.
