Hydrogen, the ideal clean fuel for cars, being an explosive material is dangerous for both transtorting and storing. With its rising demand and usage, the US government’s Department of Energy has been searching for a method to make it safe and easy for pumping like gasoline.
One of its latest patent applications reveals a solution — storing it in tiny glass balls.
To store and transport hydrogen safely, glass microspheres are proposed. Each of these microspheres would be a few millionths of a metre (microns) wide; having a hollow centre that contains palladium specks. Each of these spheres’ walls would also be having pores, with a diameter of just a few ten-billionths of a metre.
The microspheres will then be placed in a tank filled with hydrogen gas under pressure. The gas will seep through the pores, with the palladium absorbing it. The hydrogen in these spheres could then be stored and transport safely. Heat or vacuum pressure can suck the hydrogen back out when needed to be used.
Via: New Scientist
