Machine learning to develop the H2 transport of the future

Mast3rboost is aiming to revolutionize hydrogen storage to allow road vehicles to move from gasoline to H2 as a fuel. 

Engines usually work by combustion, where fuel reacts with air and ignites, generating power in a chemical reaction. H2 can serve as fuel for combustion engines the same way as gasoline, as it reacts with the O2 in the air to form H2O. H2 can be then produced from H2O, which requires energy, but this energy can come from renewable sources, making H2 a sustainable fuel. 

But H2 is a gas and not a liquid, such as gasoline. Because of this, transport of enough quantities to use as fuel is challenging, and one of the main roadblocks to implementation of H2 as a fuel that can replace gasoline. 

There are many ways to transport H2, but none are too easy. You can pressurise it, which helps reduce the volume needed for transport, but pressures required can go up to 1000 or more atmospheres. Gaseous H2 can also be cooled into a liquid, but this happens at -253 ºC, making it unideal. 

Gas transport has been an issue for life for millions of years. But evolution has already shown us how to deal with it. In your own blood, for example, O2 reaches every cell in your body. But O2 is a gas and must be transported mainly by hemoglobulin molecules. These are proteins with a metal atom (iron, or Fe), that binds the O2 molecule. It then releases it when needed. 

A similar idea can be used for H2 transport, in the form of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). These are porous lattices built of organic molecules and metallic atoms. MOFs can bind and hold many gas molecules, in this case H2, and release it when needed. 

But evolution had millions of years to produce and optimize a protein to do this for O2. To have results sooner, the Mast3rboost project is using machine learning (ML) to find ultra-porous MOFs for H2 transport that are safe, develop the new MOFs, and create a deposit to store at least 1 kg of H2 this way. 

Mast3rboost also aims to focus on the sustainability of the project. Electric batteries have shown the possible environmental impact of energy storage. MOFs require careful assembly process, as well as metal components that can be recycled. Keeping sustainability and reusability in mind will help make H2 a greener alternative, not only in the production of the fuel itself, but also in the production of its storage materials.