Grenoble (France) - Scientists working at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) may have discovered a practical storage mechanism for hydrogen gas. It's a form of Lithium Borohydride, or LiBH4, and it contains 18% hydrogen by weight. Presently, it's created under enormous pressure, but is showing extreme promise as a new candidate for permanent hydrogen storage through future chemical refinement and a lower pressure system.
One of the problems existing hydrogen storage systems have today, outside of high pressure vessel storage, is that they are too stable. Once the hydrogen is chemically combined into the various substances being researched, they just don't like to give up their hydrogen. A new, and almost accidentally discovered form of LiBH4 is proving to be stable, yet unstable enough to offer what's being heralded as a breakthrough in hydrogen storage research.