Catalysts Development for Chemical Carriers in Hydrogen Storage

Formic acid, as a chemical hydrogen storage option, has an added advantage over other hydrogen storage materials because it can contribute to the alleviation of CO₂ emissions. Formic acid can be produced by reduction of CO₂ with H₂ in the presence of an appropriate catalyst. Upon decomposition under mild conditions in the presence of an appropriate catalyst formic acid releases H₂ along with CO₂. To meet practical demands for fuel cell applications some work is needed to develop low-cost, high-performance catalysts for the generation of hydrogen from formic acid for liquid phase hydrogen storage. This project focuses on the development and evaluation of catalysts for the dehydrogenation of the chemical carrier, formic acid.

Supervisors: Prof Ray Everson (North West University), Dr Jianwei Ren (CSIR), Dr Henrietta Langmi (CSIR)

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