Advances in Catalysts for Magnesium-Based Hydrogen Storage Materials

MgH₂ (magnesium hydride) has attracted attention as a potential hydrogen storage material owing to its rich availability and high theoretical hydrogen capacity. Nevertheless, its practical utilization is restricted by its high thermodynamic stability and slow hydrogen sorption kinetics. Recent advancements have demonstrated that incorporating various catalytic systems-such as transition metals, metal oxides, metal halides, metal sulfides, and carbon-supported materials-effectively improves hydrogen dissociation, diffusion, and Mg-H bond modulation. Structural transformations, interfacial interactions, and synergistic effects in multicomponent systems substantially enhance MgH₂ performance. Furthermore, cutting-edge computational techniques such as DFT (density functional theory) and ML (machine learning) have become indispensable for expediting catalyst development and forecasting their performance. These computational techniques enable high-throughput screening, provide atomic-scale insights into catalytic mechanisms, and substantially reduce experimental workloads. This review systematically summarizes recent progress in catalytic modifications of MgH₂, elucidates the underlying enhancement mechanisms, highlights the contributions of DFT and ML methodologies, and discusses future directions such as nanostructuring, multifunctional composite catalysts, and computational-driven rational catalyst design for next-generation hydrogen storage technologies.