Research status and development direction of on-board hydrogen storage technologies

On-board hydrogen storage technology is the key to the development of efficient, safe and low-cost hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. In this paper, the research status of various hydrogen storage technologies were illustrated and their technical characteristics were analyzed and compared, including high-pressure gas storage hydrogen, low-temperature liquid hydrogen storage, high-pressure low-temperature liquid hydrogen storage, solid metal-hydride hydrogen storage and liquid organic hydrogen storage. It is indicated that these hydrogen storage technologies have been applied in the on-board hydrogen storage systems, and the application of gas hydrogen storage technology has been commercialized. However, none of these hydrogen storage technologies has fully met the technical requirements of on-board hydrogen storage systems stipulated by the US Department of Energy, and there is still a technical gap between China and foreign countries. The future key studies on the on-board hydrogen storage technologies shall follow the direction of high-quality hydrogen storage density, low cost and convenient operation.