Alcohol-Substituted Vinyl Polymers for Stockpiling Hydrogen

To be used on a daily basis, hydrogen-storage materials need to stockpile hydrogen safely and to release it using only small amounts of energy. Chemically bonded hydrogen stored in a polymer is highly safe, enabling hydrogen to be stored under ambient conditions in a non-volatile, non-toxic, and nonflammable manner. The dehydrogenation reactions of alcohol-substituted vinyl polymers at mild temperatures was investigated. Poly(allyl alcohol) was dehydrogenated at 6595°C in the presence of an iridium complex catalyst to produce poly- (acrylic acid) due to the extremely low activation energy (10 kJ/mol) associated with the catalyst-specific cycle. Poly(allyl alcohol) demonstrated a hydrogen-storage density of 6.8 wt% by releasing two equivalents of hydrogen gas, which demonstrated that alcohol-substituted vinyl polymers could be used to stockpile hydrogen and release it under mild conditions.