Exploring Nanomaterials for Hydrogen Storage: Advances, Challenges, and Perspectives

Hydrogen energy heralded for its environmentally friendly, renewable, efficient, and cost-effective attributes, stands poised as the primary alternative to fossil fuels in the future. Despite its great potential, the low volumetric density presents a formidable challenge in hydrogen storage. Addressing this challenge necessitates exploring effective storage techniques for a sustainable hydrogen economy. Solid-state hydrogen storage in nanomaterials (physically or chemically) holds promise for achieving large-scale hydrogen storage applications. Such approaches offer benefits, including safety, compactness, lightness, reversibility, and efficient generation of pure hydrogen fuel under mild conditions. This article presents solid-state nanomaterials, specifically nanoporous carbons (activated carbon, carbon fibers), metal-organic frameworks, covalently connected frameworks, nanoporous organic polymers, and nanoscale metal hydrides. Furthermore, new developments in hydrogen fuel cell technology for stationary and mobile applications have been demonstrated. The review outlines significant advancements thus far, identifies key barriers to practical implementation, and presents a perspective for future sustainable energy research. It concludes with recommendations to enhance hydrogen storage performance for cost-effective and long-lasting utilization.