Research

Metal Hydrides

Metal hydrides for hydrogen storage, photo-catalysis of hydrogen generation from water, selective hydrogenation and removal of tritium from ground water.

The AEP funded program referred to above involves a fundamental study of the chemistry involved in the formation and reaction of Rhodium organometallic-hydride complexes. The ultimate application of this work will initially be in the enzymatic catalysis area but several other applications have already suggested themselves. Since the hydrides may be produced by a photochemical reaction in water they can be source of clean hydrogen for fuel cells. The AEP project is but one example of selective hydrogenation and more substrates will certainly be sought. An important goal for fuel cell systems would be to use the understanding of these systems to prepare metal hydrides directly from light which could be used as a practical fuel form for hydrogen fueled vehicles. An immediate application that can result from these basic studies is to develop metal complexes that "trap" tritium from contaminated water sources. The bound tritium may then be separated as gaseous HT and then converted back to a more concentrated form of tritiated water in a fuel cell which would recover some of the energy. The process could then be repeated until the desired concentration is achieved either as HT or tritiated water. Such a system would be a cost-effective solution to some of the DOE problems with tritium contamination and could be easily deployed in conjunction with electrokinetic systems.