Electric field enhanced hydrogen storage on polarizable materials substrates

Since the initiation of hydrogen energy program in 2003 by the Bush Administration, tremendous efforts have been devoted to experimental and theoretical research in the past six years. However, the biggest challenge is that all the existing methods do not meet the DOE targets for hydrogen storage materials. The breakthrough can only be achieved by exploring new mechanisms. In this talk we propose a novel method to use an electric field to enhance the storage properties and to improve the release kinetics. We have shown that this has many advantages over existing techniques. We have established a new concept where an electric field can be used as an additional parameter to tailor the performance of hydrogen storage materials. It is expected that some highly polarizable materials such as polymers and porous materials can be synthesized using modern techniques. This will be a promising line of investigation for new hydrogen storage materials.