Imagine a sponge that can soak up huge amounts of hydrogen gas without needing extreme pressure or freezing temperatures. Instead of using heavy, dangerous tanks, this technology uses specially designed crystals to hold the fuel safely. It's like upgrading from a bulky water jug to a high-tech absorbent pad that makes transporting clean energy much easier.
Current hydrogen storage is either too energy-intensive (compression/liquefaction) or too bulky and dangerous (high-pressure tanks). There is a gap in finding low-cost materials that store enough hydrogen without requiring extreme conditions.
A multiscale system including computationally designed MOF materials and a TRL 5 cryo-adsorption storage tank.
If you are a train manufacturer dealing with the weight and safety risks of high-pressure gas tanks — this project developed monolithic MOF adsorbents that store hydrogen at pressures below 100 bar. This allows for safer, lighter fuel systems for long-distance rail lines.
If you are a vehicle OEM dealing with the energy loss of liquid hydrogen boil-off — this project developed materials with a storage capacity of at least 10 wt% and 50 g/L. This increases the driving range while reducing the need for expensive insulation.
If you are a materials producer dealing with the high cost of synthesizing porous crystals — this project developed a machine learning and simulation cycle to identify low-cost MOFs. This reduces R&D waste and speeds up the production of high-performance adsorbents.
The project focuses on identifying low-cost MOFs and reducing the need for expensive composite or heavily insulated bulky containers used in conventional storage. Based on available project data, it aims for a cost-effective solution via a techno-economic assessment.
The project includes a specific goal of upscaling monolithic forms of the MOF materials to allow integration into storage tanks. These will be tested in a TRL 5 environment to validate scalability.
Based on available project data, the project is currently in the research and validation phase (2022-2026) and is developing a horizontal dissemination and exploitation strategy for future market penetration.
The technology is designed for integration into a specifically designed cryo-adsorption storage tank. The project targets road and rail applications specifically.
The project runs from June 2022 to September 2026, with the goal of reaching TRL 5 validation during this period.
The consortium is highly commercially oriented, with 44% of its 16 partners coming from industry (7 companies), including 2 SMEs. This balance between 6 universities and 3 research centers suggests a strong pipeline from computational design to industrial application across 8 countries.
Contact the National Center for Scientific Research 'Demokritos' in Greece
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