Scientists at the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new approach to the problem of storing hydrogen safely in future fuel-cell-powered cars. Hydrogen is considered to be a clean and efficient alternative to gasoline, but the lack of a safe way to store it onboard a vehicle has been a difficult challenge to overcome. The new technology uses molecular scale “veins” of iron permeating grains of magnesium like a network of capillaries, which could rapidly absorb and release sufficient quantities of hydrogen so that grains of the two metals could form the fuel tank for hydrogen-powered vehicles. According to Leo Bendersky, a NIST materials scientist, “Powder grains made of iron-doped magnesium can get saturated with hydrogen within 60 seconds, and they can do so at only 150 degrees Celsius and fairly low pressure, which are key factors for safety in commercial vehicles.”

http://www.nist.gov/mml/metallurgy/hydrogen-083011.cfm