Rare earth hydrogen storage materials usher in a new opportunity

Research and application of rare earth elements in functional materials  

The research and application of rare earth in functional materials mainly include rare earth nanomaterials, rare earth ultrafine nanomaterials, the application of rare earth in functional polymers, the study of rare earth based PVC thermal stabilizer and its smog-suppressing performance, and the preparation and performance of rare earth nanoalloy catalyst, which are mainly used in hydrogen storage materials and hydrogen energy application industry.

Application of rare earth elements hydrogen storage materials

The application of rare earth in hydrogen energy industry chain includes rare earth alloy, and the application of rare earth magnesium hydride in large-scale non-mobile hydrogen storage. Rare earth hydrogen storage materials can absorb and discharge hydrogen at low temperature, which is a functional material and energy material with great development potential, and also a strategic material in the field of carbon neutral green energy. According to the structure, they can be divided into two categories: AB5 type (LaNi5) hydrogen storage alloy and non-AB5 type rare earth hydrogen storage alloy. At present, the industrialized hydrogen storage material is still AB5 series, mainly used in Ni/MH battery anode material. A2B7 type hydrogen storage alloy has been industrialized in Japan. Among a series of developed hydrogen storage materials, rare earth hydrogen storage material has the best performance and the most extensive application. The state has also given clear guidance to the development of rare earth hydrogen storage materials. At present, 95 percent of the world's rare earth hydrogen storage materials are supplied by China and Japan, and China's production of hydrogen storage alloys exceeds 70 percent of the world's total. With the popularization and application of hydrogen vehicles, the market demand for rare earth hydrogen storage materials will greatly increase, mainly used in the field of new energy, such as hydrogen vehicles, hydrogen electric vehicles, hydrogen recovery, hydrogen purification, hydrogen transport and other high-capacity hydrogen storage devices, nickel metal hydride battery electrode materials and so on.  

Prospect and future of rare earth elements hydrogen storage materials

Rare earth hydrogen storage materials in the future will achieve ten billion yuan of economic benefit, rare earth is "strategic elements" of the twentieth century, is known as "the vitamin of modern industry" and the "treasure" new materials, especially the application of rare earth materials in solid hydrogen storage technology, the development is not limited, to priority to the development scale of energy storage, with long life and low cost, hydrogen storage alloy. Use solid state/high pressure hybrid hydrogen storage and high capacity light hydrogen storage projects. In foreign countries, solid state hydrogen storage device has been commercialized or large-scale demonstration application in submarine, large-scale energy storage and other fields. In China, although the prototype is in the development stage, it has broad development prospects. In the fields of large-scale energy storage, fuel cell ships and backup power supply, solid state hydrogen storage will achieve economic benefits of more than 10 billion yuan. By 2025, a batch of new high-performance rare earth functional materials with original intellectual property rights will be developed and applied in the field of rare earth new materials. Lanthanum, cerium, yttrium in permanent magnet, catalysis, ceramic crystal, hydrogen storage materials in the annual consumption will reach 45,000 tons; China's leading rare earth extraction technology will go abroad to participate in the development of foreign rare earth resources, accounting for 20 percent of the world's total. With the emerging demand for large-scale energy storage, fuel cell ships and backup power supply, the rare earth industry is embracing new opportunities.