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Research

Sodium Borohydride for Hydrogen Mobility & Compression

One chemistry, two tracks: on-board and compressor-free high-pressure hydrogen from sodium borohydride, with Hyundai since 2022.

  • Reactor Systems
  • Catalysis
  • Economics
Sodium Borohydride for Hydrogen Mobility & Compression schematic

Background

Sodium borohydride is an air-stable solid carrying 10.8 wt% hydrogen (theoretical) that releases it on demand. An acid trigger makes release fast and controllable with no catalyst to recover — a fit for emergency and off-grid hydrogen such as backup power and drones. Using formic acid as that trigger also couples its endothermic decomposition to the exothermic hydrolysis, letting one reaction tune its own rate, pressure and purity — the chemistry behind on-board generation, compressor-free high-pressure hydrogen, and CO purification.

What I did

  • Part of the on-board generation program led by Hyundai Rotem with Hyundai Motor Company, going on five years.
  • Contributed conceptualization and techno-economic assessment to the 650 bar sequential-compression study.
  • Designed and built the reaction apparatus and mechanism experiments behind 817 bar high-purity hydrogen.
  • Led the CO purification catalyst end to end, from preparation to system evaluation.

Outcomes

  • 500 bar-class hydrogen directly from NaBH4 hydrolysis — no compressor stage, no grid power.
  • First-author paper in Chemical Engineering Journal (2025).
  • Filed patent application on CO purification (No. 10-2023-0091712, KIST) as lead inventor.
  • Co-first author, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy (2026); co-author on a catalyst paper.

The on-board generation system was publicly demonstrated at ADEX 2025.

Related publications

Selective CO-to-hydrocarbon conversion in formic acid–promoted borohydride hydrolysis for PEMFC-grade hydrogen production

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2026

Co-first author

Contribution: PFR-based CO purification experiments coupled with heat-flow simulation

“Trace CO in the hydrolysis stream is converted into condensable hydrocarbons over Ru/TiO2/Al2O3 — from ~10,000 ppm to under 1 ppm — and the hydrolysis exotherm alone keeps the purifier running.”

doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2026.157136

High-Pressure, Grid-Independent Hydrogen Generation via Chemical Hydride Hydrolysis: Demonstration and Deployment Strategies

Chemical Engineering Journal, 2025

First author

“From lab bench to a working high-pressure, grid-independent hydrogen generator.”

doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2025.162983

Novel Roles of Catalysts in Producing High-Purity High-Pressure Hydrogen from Sodium Borohydride

ChemSusChem, 2024

Co-author

doi.org/10.1002/cssc.202401694

Pore Surface Engineering of Al2O3-supported Ru Catalysts with TiO2 for Enhanced Selective CO Methanation

Applied Surface Science, 2024

Co-author

Contribution: Experiments, catalyst characterization, reaction product analysis

doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2024.159551

Sequential reactions toward a high-pressure H2 generation from a mixture of sodium borohydride and formic acid

Cell Reports Physical Science, 2023

Co-author

Contribution: Conceptualization, techno-economic assessment

doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101759