A new hydrogen storage technique has been proposed that could provide an alternative solution for the problem of hydrogen storage when used to power vehicles.

A team of scientists from the Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences in Canada and the Technical University of Dresden has found that graphite could be used to store hydrogen successfully.

Graphite can be used to store hydrogen gas at room temperature, and is also capable of storing greater amounts of hydrogen than many other solutions - close to 62 kilograms per cubic metres.

In addition, molecules inserted between the graphite layers, or "graphenes", would be able to keep out contaminants such as nitrogen and carbon monoxide, whose presence can diminish the storage room for hydrogen itself.

"The technological challenge is to now synthesise graphenes with the appropriate interplanar spacing for maximum hydrogen absorption," explained team leader John Tse.

"Once this is achieved and our theoretical prediction confirmed, I foresee that graphene would be a strong contender for practical hydrogen storage."

The findings appeared in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.