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A team of Korean researchers has lead a breakthrough in opening the era of hydrogen cars: the discovery of hydrogen-storing solid matter.

Professor Lim Ji-sun of Seoul National University’s School of Physics announced on August 4 that he had found a new material with a structure that can store hydrogen in normal temperature without pressurization. This new matter can store enough hydrogen to move a car for a certain distance, a trip that would have consumed the same volume and weight in gasoline as the hydrogen used.

Professor Lim discovered that the hydrogen can be stored in solid matter in normal temperatures and pressures by attaching a titanium atom to a polymer. Hydrogen, the gaseous matter, can be stably stored in the material, allowing for its immediate application in hydrogen vehicles. With the storage efficiency for commercialization of Professor Lim’s new material at 7.6 percent, surpassing that targeted by the U.S. Department of Energy 6.5 percent, his discovery is expected to draw interest from automobile makers worldwide. The thesis by Prof. Lim’s team was published in the August 4 issue of the Physical Review Letter, a scientific journal in physics.

Mr. Kim Jong-won, the director of High Efficiency Hydrogen Energy Development Project Group, 21st Century Frontier, said, “We have tried to store hydrogen in metal atoms or on ice for a safe transportation, but the efficiency was only up to 3 to 4 percent. Once other requirements, such as fuel cells, are made efficient, as well, Kim said, “professor Lim’s remarkable discovery will immediately open the era of hydrogen-fueled vehicles.”