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Updated: May 31, 2026

Supercritical Nitrogen Processing for the Purification of Reactive Porous Materials
Published on: May 15, 2015
Hydrogen storage in formic acid amine adducts.
Albert Boddien1, Felix Gartner, Dorthe Mellmann
1Leibniz-Institut für Katalyse e.V., Universität Restock, Albert Einstein Str. 29a, D-18059 Restock, Germany. albert.boddien@catalysis.de
Formic acid is a promising hydrogen storage material. Researchers developed efficient ruthenium and iron catalysts for its selective dehydrogenation at room temperature, achieving high activity and enabling practical hydrogen release.
Area of Science:
- Catalysis
- Materials Science
- Sustainable Energy
Background:
- Formic acid is a non-toxic liquid with high hydrogen content, making it a viable hydrogen storage medium.
- Efficient catalytic methods are needed for the reversible storage and release of hydrogen from formic acid.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate efficient catalytic systems for the selective dehydrogenation of formic acid at ambient temperatures.
- To explore both precious (ruthenium) and non-precious (iron) metal catalysts for hydrogen storage applications.
Main Methods:
- Catalytic dehydrogenation of formic acid amine adducts using ruthenium phosphine catalysts.
- Employing iron-based catalysts with specific ligands and visible light irradiation.
Main Results:
- A ruthenium catalyst ([RuCl2(benzene)]2/dppe) achieved a turnover number (TON) of 260,000 at room temperature.
- An iron-based system (Fe3(CO)12/tribenzylphosphine/terpyridine) under visible light irradiation yielded a TON of 1266, the highest reported for non-precious metal catalysts.
Conclusions:
- Ruthenium catalysts demonstrate exceptional efficiency for formic acid dehydrogenation.
- Iron-based catalysts offer a promising, cost-effective alternative for selective hydrogen release from formic acid.
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