Methods of storing hydrogen in hydrogen storage systems

In one aspect, the invention provides a method of storing hydrogen that comprises reacting two precursors to form a hydrogen storage composition comprising hydrogen, nitrogen, a Group 13 element, and an element selected from Group 1, Group 2 or mixtures thereof. In other aspects, the present invention provides a method of storing hydrogen by ball-milling two precursors at a temperature in a range sufficient to prevent pre-mature release of hydrogen, while the temperature is still sufficient to induce reaction between the precursors. The precursors preferably have X-H, Y-H and A-H bonds where X represents a Group 13 element, Y represents a Group 15 element, and A represents an element from Group 1, Group 2, or mixtures thereof. Other variations of the methods of storing hydrogen are further provided.In one aspect, the invention provides a hydrogen storage material that is formed by reacting solid precursors (a) and (b). The (a) precursor is a compound containing X-H and Y-H bonds, where X is a Group 13 and Y is a Group 15 element. Preferably X is boron (B-H) and Y is nitrogen (N-H). Most preferably, the precursor (a) is borazane. The (b) precursor is preferably a hydride, such as LiH or LiAlH4. Another feature of the present invention is a novel hydrogen storage composition material that is formed as an intermediate (INT) in the reaction of the (a) with the (b) precursors. The INT hydrogen storage material can be a quaternary B-H-Li-N composition. Other aspects of hydrogen storage materials are provided herein.