https://j.people.com.cn/n3/2026/0515/c95952-20456788.html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2542435126001595
A research team led by Professor Chen Ping at the CAS Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics has developed the world’s first gas–solid hydrogen anion prototype battery using hydrogen and metal as electrodes. The battery operates by absorbing hydrogen during discharge and releasing hydrogen during charging. Through the simultaneous storage of hydrogen and electricity, the team demonstrated highly efficient hydrogen storage under normal temperature and atmospheric pressure conditions.
A hydrogen anion represents a state in which hydrogen carries an extra electron. Using hydrogen anions as charge carriers makes it possible to combine high reactivity with high energy characteristics, and it is regarded as one of the key directions for the development of next-generation all-solid-state batteries. However, hydrogen anions are extremely unstable under natural conditions, making their direct use in electrochemical energy storage very difficult for scientists.
Chen Ping’s team began researching hydrogen anion conduction in 2018. In 2023, they developed a new hydrogen anion electrolyte material, enabling stable hydrogen anion conduction under low-temperature conditions. In 2025, the team created the world’s first all-solid-state hydrogen anion prototype battery. Building on those achievements, the researchers have now proposed a new concept: the “gas–solid hydrogen anion battery.”
The gas–solid hydrogen anion battery is capable of operating across a wide temperature range, using metallic magnesium and hydrogen as the active materials for the negative and positive electrodes, respectively. In this battery, hydrogen anions not only provide high-energy output but are also integrated with electrochemical hydrogen storage.
During discharge, hydrogen at the positive electrode is reduced into hydrogen anions, while metal at the negative electrode is oxidized into cations, forming metal hydrides. During charging, hydrogen molecules are released at one electrode while the metal is regenerated at the other. This process enables simultaneous charging/discharging together with hydrogen storage and release.
The research team assembled a battery pack by stacking and connecting ten single cells in series, achieving an output voltage exceeding 2.4 volts. They successfully powered an LED light bulb, demonstrating the creation of the gas–solid hydrogen anion prototype battery.
Energy-efficiency analysis showed that this “simultaneous hydrogen and electricity storage” system achieved an energy utilization efficiency of 93.9%, approximately one-third higher than conventional thermal hydrogen-storage methods.
This achievement presents a new technological pathway toward solving the core challenge of hydrogen storage, which has long been a major obstacle to the broader use of hydrogen energy. It may pave the way for new hydrogen storage technologies by overcoming the extreme conditions, such as high pressure, required in conventional hydrogen storage systems.