Discover the storage of hydrogen in solid form, a revolutionary idea winner of the European Inventor of the Year Award

Here is a nice victory for this team of French researchers: the European Inventor Prize 2023. Their discovery? A revolutionary system for storing hydrogen in solid form.

This team is made up of five scientists: Nataliya Skryabina, Patricia de Rango, Daniel Fruchart, Albin Chaise and Michel Jehan. Winners in the research category, they were selected from among 600 candidates. It must be said that their work had something to hold the attention of the jury, since it is a solution to allow the storage of hydrogen gas in the form of solid discs. A much more secure approach than traditional storage solutions.

Hydrogen storage in solid form: a small revolution

Hydrogen is a molecule on which research has greatly accelerated in recent years. Indeed, in the process of decarbonization of energy, it is a very good candidate. If it has many advantages, one of its main flaws is its instability. Indeed, stored in gaseous or liquid form, hydrogen can be very dangerous because of its highly explosive potential.

Thanks to their system using graphite and magnesium hydride (chemical compound with the formula MgH₂), these researchers managed to build an atomic structure as well as a process to keep hydrogen in the form of a solid disk. In this form, the gas is then inert, non-flammable and therefore much safer. On top of that, it features increased energy efficiency and increased durability.

Multiple benefits for the future

This innovation is a big step forward in the march towards the exploitation of hydrogen as a safe energy. It will be possible to store these discs for a much longer period of time than in liquid or gaseous form. When solid, hydrogen also undergoes much less degradation.

The other big advantage is that this solution will dispense with traditional storage methods, often requiring complex systems operating under high pressure. According to the winning team, if this advance is adopted on a larger scale, the storage and distribution of hydrogen will be greatly facilitated.

While it was extremely difficult to maintain hydrogen in solid form at normal pressures and temperatures, this team rose to the challenge. They will not have stolen their prize, and it is to be hoped that their efforts in this project will serve in the future.

Sources: CNRS, INPI