Producing only water (and no CO2) upon combustion, hydrogen is one of the most environmental friendly fuels. However, safe and energy efficient storage of hydrogen remains one of the biggest scientific challenges in enabling hydrogen as energy carrier for the future, despite many years of international research. Clathrate hydrates (clathrates), a material made up of cavities large enough to encapsulate a variety of gas molecules including hydrogen, could offer a solution.

the initial Sprint cSBO ARCLATH I a proof of concept was provided for storing hydrogen in confined clathrate hydrates under technically and economically relevant conditions of temperature and pressure. In ARLCATH II we aim to maximize the hydrogen storage capacity of the clathrate phase by tailoring pore size, structure and chemical functionality of the host material in order to enable the formation and stabilisation of novel clathrate structures occluding more hydrogen under similar conditions of temperature and pressure. To this aim, we need to advance our understanding of the underlying mechanism governing hydrogen clathrate formation and its use as storage medium. New insights from theoretical modelling combined with experimental validation will enable us to synthesise hydrophobic materials with superior properties for hosting clathrate structures with enhanced storage capacity. At the same time we will search for a practical process of reversible hydrogen storage and delivery based on pressure swing cycling at lab-scale.