New hydrogen fuel storage system developed in Virginia

Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University announced at the end of July that a new hydrogen fuel storage system they've developed might help in getting hydrogen-powered cars on the road cheaper and more safely. While the research is only theoretical at this point, the scientists are upbeat on the system's possibilities. The system, first described in the online version of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, uses a "material - a lithium-coated buckyball - that may have the potential to serve as a storage vessel for hydrogen atoms". The idea is that each lithium atom stores five hydrogen molecules and so each buckyball can store 60 hydrogen molecules, making hydrogen storage in cars easier if it works.
The researchers were working with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative, which was started in 2003.

[Source: Environmental Protection]