Final Activity Report Summary - HYTRAIN (Hydrogen storage research training network) The HYTRAIN project was funded by the Marie Curie programme as a research training network to investigate improved ways of storing hydrogen on vehicles powered by fuel cells. This area of research is of major significance in connection with global warming. The only possible ways of removing CO2 production from car travel is to move to either battery or hydrogen fuel cell propulsion. This possibility exists because of the anticipated introduction of carbon neutral forms of electricity production, specifically wind and nuclear because both these production routes involve the production co considerable excess power in off-peak periods when the wind is blowing. However, major technological limitations to the range between refuelling still exist for both methods. In the case of hydrogen, the existing technologies would involve either high pressure hydrogen or liquid hydrogen. The obvious solid state hydride method using transition metals would be too heavy to help as far as range is concerned. Research is therefore linked to either physisorbed H2 on the surface of porous materials or using light hydrides.HYTRAIN has made considerable contributions in both these areas. In porous materials, considerable progress has been recorded in producing very large surface area carbons and in understanding the physisorption process in high area metal oxide framework compounds. In solid hydrides progress has been established in understanding the Mg-Tm intermetallic hydrides and in the process of hydrogen cycling of the Li3N/Li2NH/LiNH2 system where a continuous phase change has been established. Important progress has also been achieved towards the engineering of storage tanks for materials which can already be upscaled.
