Hydrogen-based materials for energy storage and conversion

Hydrogen has the highest gravimetric energy density of any energy carrier and it can operate in a closed cycle with no carbon emissions. Hydrogen-based materials play a critical part in hydrogen storage and helped to power the first generation of hybrid electric vehicles. In this Review, we examine several clean-energy applications of hydrogen-based materials. A major focus of research is hydrogen storage and transportation. Storing hydrogen gas is challenging, but physisorption by nanoporous materials, absorption by metal and complex hydrides, and liquid hydrogen carriers offer viable solutions for safe and economical hydrogen storage. For many applications in a future hydrogen economy, hydrogen gas must be compressed and metal hydride compressors can achieve the pressures required by the type IV compressed-gas storage tanks used in the first generation of commercial fuel cell vehicles. Hydrides are still relevant for battery technology, including as electrodes in the next generation of nickel-metal hydride batteries, as electrolytes in future solid-state batteries, or as liquid electrolytes in new battery types. Hydrides also show promise as thermal energy storage materials for the utilization of industrial waste heat and for renewable energy sources such as solar thermal power plants. We review the status of each of these technologies, which are at varying stages of implementation, providing a basis for future research on hydrogen-based materials for energy storage and conversion.

Authors: Darren P. Broom, Mark D. Allendorf, Tom Autrey, Marcello Baricco, Jose Bellosta von Colbe, Mark E. Bowden, Craig E. Buckley, Ping Chen, Fermin Cuevas, Stefano Deledda, Martin Dornheim, Michael Felderhoff, Vanessa Fierro, Yaroslav Filinchuk, David M. Grant, Bjørn C. Hauback, Terry D. Humphries, Jacques Huot, Craig M. Jensen, Torben R. Jensen, Peter Ngene, Hyunchul Oh, Shin-ichi Orimo, Luca Pasquini, Kouji Sakaki, Sabrina Sartori, Godwin Severa, Colin J. Webb, Claudia Weidenthaler, Brandon C. Wood, Volodymyr A. Yartys, Min Zhu & Michael Hirscher

Hydrogen-based materials for energy storage and conversion. Nat. Rev. Clean Technol. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44359-026-00184-z