Silicon
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12633-023-02355-0
ORIGINAL PAPER
Hydrogen Storage in Porous Silicon – A Review
Meltem GOR BOLEN1
Received: 30 December 2022 / Accepted: 15 February 2023
© Springer Nature B.V. 2023
Abstract
The purpose of this review is to summarize the characterization and properties of porous silicon (PS) for hydrogen storage.
In silicon porosification technology, the importance of hydrogen as an intermediate product is highlighted. In this respect,
this study explored what hydrogen bonding in PS is like and how it can be used to store hydrogen. The comprehension of
hydrogen storage with PS and an understanding of potential future solutions can both benefit from such a review.
Keywords  Porous silicon · Hydrogen storage · Renewable energy
1 Introduction
Currently, global warming is one of the most important sub-
jects that scholars have been researching in recent years [1].
The utilization of alternative energy sources such as Bio-
mass Energy, Hydraulic Energy and Hydrogen Energy can
solve the difficulty of burning fossil fuels, which is an impor-
tant contributor to wide-ranging environmental effects [2–5].
These have now simulated policies to limit the availability
of fossil fuels. For this reason, it appears that the usage of
renewable energy resources is becoming increasingly sig-
nificant. Among these, hydrogen plays an important role in
sustainable development as a clean, renewable, and high-
density energy carrier [6]. It can be produced from different
chemical, hydrogen containing gasses, water electrolysis etc.
[7].
The word “Hydrogen” is derived from the Greek word
“Idrogono” meaning watermaker. It is a nonmetal with
symbol H and atomic number 1. At standard temperature
and pressure, it is a highly combustible gas that is color-
less, odorless, non-metallic, tasteless, and odorless. The gas
hydrogen is absolutely non-toxic and 14.4 times lighter than
air. The most prevalent element in the universe, hydrogen
makes approximately 75% of the mass of the known cos-
mos. A fuel source that is both energy- and environmentally-
friendly is hydrogen. Energy is obtained from hydrogen by
the following processes:
* Meltem GOR BOLEN
meltem.gor@erzurum.edu.tr
1
Erzurum Technical University, Erzurum, Turkey
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
– Combustion: Hydrogen can be burned like gasoline and
natural gas. Its superiority over gasoline and natural gas
is its low emissions. Carbon dioxide does not come out.
Compared to gasoline and natural gas, very little ­NOx is
released. Internal combustion engines for automobiles
are being developed, as well as hydrogen gas turbines for
industrial and military use.
– Fuel cell: The opposite of electrolysis is fuel cell. Com-
bining oxygen and hydrogen in the air produces electric
current. In all applications, particularly those involving
autos, it is the preferable approach. Compared to burn-
ing hydrogen, it is more efficient. It does not release any
emissions that are hazardous to the environment.
The application areas where hydrogen is used as a fuel are
various. Today, the most notable of these is transportation.
A potential application is transportation, where a adequate
amount of hydrogen must be stored on board so that hydro-
gen-powered cars may travel the same distance as vehicles
fuelled by fossil fuels [8, 9].
Because of these advantages, it is an appealing fuel
choice for transportation and electricity production appli-
cations using fuel cells [10–12]. However, one of the most
significant challenges in using hydrogen as a fuel is the stor-
age. In this regard, the storage of hydrogen is a big obstacle
to the realization of a hydrogen economy [13–15]. To solve
the limitations of using hydrogen as fuel, various hydro-
gen generating technologies have been reported by scien-
tists [16–19]. Hydrogen generation is a mature technology
using this approach; nonetheless, the key challenge has been
described in the storage sector [6].
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
 Silicon

In addition, hydrogen is used as fuel to power phone,

laptop, portable charger, auxiliary power unit, small station-
ary, automobile powertrain, medium stationary applications.
Apart from these application areas, hydrogen is also used
in the Metals, Plastics, Glass, Electronics, Chemical, Food,
Oil sectors. These three stages – the production, transport
and storage of hydrogen – are collectively referred to as the
hydrogen economy (Fig. 1).
One of the leading contenders to replace petroleum
is hydrogen. Instead of being an energy source like oil,
hydrogen is an energy carrier. On Earth, hydrogen can-
not be created naturally, but it can be made using other
resources. Hydrogen production technologies can be listed
as follows:

1. Obtaining hydrogen from fossil fuels such as coal, natu-
ral gas, gasoline by thermochemical methods. The steam
reaction method is the most used method. Here, the fos-
sil fuel reacts with steam via a nickel-based catalyst and
hydrogen is released. In addition, hydrogen is obtained
from bio-oil obtained from biomass by the pyrolysis
method, similarly by reaction with steam.
2. Obtaining hydrogen by electrolysis of water. Using elec-
trical energy, water is split into hydrogen and oxygen.
3. Obtaining hydrogen from solar energy by photoelectro-
chemical method. It is similar to the electrolysis method.
Electric current is obtained from solar cells immersed
in water. It is more efficient than the normal electrolysis
method.
4. Obtaining hydrogen by using natural photosynthesis
activities from green algae by photobiological method.
5. Obtaining hydrogen from various hydride compounds
by chemical methods. The most important of these is
sodium borohydride.
Hydrogen storage technologies are given in Fig. 2. Each
of the methods given here has its own characteristics.
Fig. 2  Hydrogen Storage Technologies [21]
Hydrogen storage technologies are classified in Fig. 2.
However, as shown in Fig.  3., chemical methods and
hybrid methods are material-based methods.
Existing hydrogen storage technologies include lique-
faction [23, 24] and high pressure tanks. However, these
storage systems necessitate extremely low temperatures or
high hydrogen pressures, which raises the costs and risks
of using them to store hydrogen.
Other approaches include gas compression [25–28]
and adsorption on very porous materials (carbon nano-
structures, metal or complex hydride production, metallo-
organic networks) [29–33].
Although hydrogen can be transported, stored, or used
as a liquid or gas, gas storage needs very large amounts. Up
to 15% of the hydrogen energy stored is spent on compres-
sion. In addition, a high pressure storage tank is needed
and these tanks are manufactured from woven carbon
nanofibers, which are very costly. This leads to huge sizes
of devices and vehicles where hydrogen is thought to be
used as a fuel [20].

Production Transport Storage

Energy intenity and Comprehensive and

Ability to meet the
cost secure infrastructure for
targeted need
deployment
Renewable energy
based

Fig. 1   Hydrogen Economy [20]

13

Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.

Silicon
Fig. 3  Hydrogen Storage Technologies [22]
Storage as a liquid creates both very high pressure and
high cost. 30% of the stored hydrogen energy is spent for
liquefaction. The liquid hydrogen tank must be well insu-
lated to minimize heat transfer from the environment. An
attractive method for storing hydrogen is solid-state stor-
age. In an ideal world, hydrogen storage materials would
be able to physisorb or chemisorb hydrogen into them-
selves, storing it safely and effectively. Usable hydrogen
storage capacity, price, reaction temperatures, and kinet-
ics are the performance parameters to be assessed for the
materials [5].
The focus of hydrogen storage applications has recently
been on storage by absorption processes on the surface of
materials because of the materials' low weight and relatively
low binding energy, which make it easier for hydrogen to
be released from confinement [9]. The possibility of highly
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
reversible gas storage with quick kinetics and stability over
many cycles is maximized by hydrogen physisorption within
a light, porous, large surface area, and durable material. Sev-
eral investigations are being made into innovative materials
with incredibly huge surface areas that are being tested for
their capacity to store hydrogen [9].
Most metal hydrides weigh a lot and some of them are
extremely stable substances that need high dehydrogenation
temperatures of over 300 °C [34, 35]. Solid-state porous
materials called metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) can
store hydrogen at temperatures ranging from 196 degrees
Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius. However, because of their
weak hydrogen interactions, MOFs may not be able to store
hydrogen for a long time at higher temperatures [36]. Conse-
quently, a cheap, porous hydrogen storage material that can
operate at ambient temperature would be ideal [9].
13
 Silicon
According to the literature, silicon (Si), the most
researched semiconductor, is a prominent contender for
hydrogen storage research due to its widespread availability
in nature, low cost and interaction with hydrogen. In order
to show the poor affinity of a pure silicon surface to hydro-
gen, scientists looked at the adsorption energy between those
arrays [6, 37].
Si–Si connections are not broken when hydrogen atoms
establish dangling bonds with Si surfaces. Theoretically, for
x:1, 2, and 3, the wt % (weight percent) hydrogen in a S ­ iHx
system is 3.44, 6.65, and 9.65 [9]. Porous media [38] and
other structures have been reported as storage systems [6].
Among the superior features of porous silicon are that it
is suitable for mass production, is compatible with micro-
production techniques and can be easily integrated into
systems. Moreover, It can be obtained by easy etching pro-
cesses. It has a high characteristic surface area, favorable
surface chemistry, and important optical and electrical prop-
erties. Due to these properties, it can be used in the fields
of optics and photonics. It is biocompatible, biodegradable
and biorepairable, and has low toxicity. For these reasons,
it can be used in biosensing applications. Additionally PS
has the potential to be a very efficient solid-state hydrogen
storage material [12]. Because the surface of PS produced by
electrochemical etching is coated with S ­ iHx silane groups,
this material has the potential to be used as a solid-state
hydrogen reservoir [39]. Although PS is a very good candi-
date for hydrogen storage, efficiency improvement studies
are ongoing. In one of the studies, doping into the pores was
used for this purpose.
Hydrogen storage with PS is a chemical hydrogen storage
method and is realized by physical adsorption.
2 Hydrogen‑Si Bonds Formation
PS is produced as a result of processing in a hydrogen fluo-
ride solution [24]. With electrochemical etching (anodiza-
tion), the most common preparation method, pore formation
activities are greatly assisted by an electrical current.
The electrochemical etching procedure relies on the elec-
trical field-assisted reaction between HF and Si atoms. Fig-
ure 4 depicts the reaction’s flow chart [39].
The morphology and chemical structure of obtained PS is
determined by the preparation method and the characteristics
of the employed Si wafers. As mentioned, during the etching
procedure, hydrogen coats the Si dangling bonds. On the
surface of the obtained PS, Consequently, silane ­SiHx (x = 1,
2, 3) groups are generated. The surface morphology of these
groups determines their kinds (Fig. 5).
Crystalline planes are often covered with dimer mono-
hydrides (H-Si–Si-H) or dihydrides (­ SiH2) for direction
13
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
(1 0 0), and solitary Si–H species for direction (111). On
defects like Si tips, trihydrides (­ SiH 3) are visible. The
number of dangling Si• bonds that become passivated
with hydrogen as a result of increased porosity increases
along with the sharpening of surface roughness. The sur-
face changes to a fractal state and the Si crystallites shrink
as porosity rises, increasing the amount of bound hydro-
gen. These characteristics enable estimation of the porous
media to crystalline core ratio in etched Si powders. As a
result, hydrogen may account for up to 6 mass percent of
the final product [39].
Every form of hydrogen bonding in PS has specific
energies for activation and dissociation, as well as vibra-
tional modes and other characteristics that can be studied
(Fig. 6) [39].
3 Hydrogen Extraction
In the storage of hydrogen, it is important that the hydro-
gen bonds to the PS as well as breaking the bonds and
making them ready for use. Several methods are used for
this. Heating is the most commonly utilized method for
producing ­H2 from PS.
Heating [39]: Thermal S ­ iHx bond dissociation and the
desorption of physically bound atomic and molecular
hydrogen occur concurrently with this process. The benefit
of this approach is temperature-based process control. The
hydrogen that was held on defects and Si–H-B complexes
desorbs at temperatures between 150 and 200 °C. Silane
species break down at higher temperatures: ­SiH3 and ­SiH2
at 250–350 °C and SiH at 450 °C and above. The mor-
phology and age of the samples affect temperature results.
The disadvantage is the requirement for a high vacuum
(due to the potential for oxidation) and high temperatures
(between 250 and 600 °C).
• Chemical reaction with water [39]: Hydrogen is gen-
erated due to the PS and water reaction. Even small
catalytic quantities of bases significantly speed up the
process. Hydrated silicon oxide is the PS conversion's
end result.
• Illumination [39]: Desorption of H ­ 2 occurs when pho-
tons with energies equivalent to or greater than the
corresponding binding energies of SiHx species are
absorbed. Usually, PS is exposed to intense infrared
radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet laser, the frequen-
cies of which are matched to the vibrational modes of
silane groups. The benefit of such a technique is the
ability to selectively extract H­ 2 from a chosen kind of
­SiHx species; the disadvantages are the slow hydrogen
desorption rate and cost for high power.
Silicon

Fig. 4  The reaction of HF and

Si atoms at the electrochemical
etching process [39]

Hole injection and attack on a Si-H bond by a fluoride ion

Second attack by a fluoride ion with hydrogen evolution and electron

injection into the substrate

HF attack to the Si-Si backbonds. The remaining Si surface atoms are

bonded to the H atoms and a silicon tetrafluoride molecule is produced

The silicon tetrafluoride reacts with two HF molecules to give H2SiF6 and
then ionizes.

4 Recent Advanced electrode [40] proved that it is possible to produce a discharge

Honarpazhouh et al. [38] the structure osf Pd-coated PS/gra-
phene oxide was investigated and, the testing for cycle life per-
formance results reveal that the proposed structure has good
cycle stability and has applications with a large potential for
hydrogen storage. After 100 cycles, the storage volume of the
GO-Pd/PS/Si electrode drops by only 1% of its initial capaci-
tance [40]. Hydrogen storage using a mesoporous silicon as an
capacity of 232 mAh/g for this type of material with the inclu-
sion of graphene oxide (GO-Pd/PS/Si) films or adorned with
carbon nanotubes (Pd-CNT/Pd/PS/Si), generating a storage
volume of 537 mAh/g [6, 12, 40].
Figure 7 compares the performance of the four samples'
combined cycle life. Accordingly, PS has a greater hydro-
gen storage capacity value than the Si wafer. The capacity
to store hydrogen is increased once Pd nanoparticles are

13

Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.

 Silicon

Fig. 5  Schematic of PS corrolation with hydrogen passivation and

surface morphology low porosity materials (< 60%); high porosity
materials (> 60%) [39]

applied to PS. The highest hydrogen storage capability is

achieved by GO-Pd/PS.
A previous study observed the impact of Pd particle
impregnation on the behavior of bonded and molecular Fig. 6  (a) FTIR (b) TPD spectra of PS layers with different porosity/
ageing values [37]
hydrogen in meso-PS structures during two processes: (i)
PS interaction with water and catalyst, and (ii) molecular ­H2
treatment of PS nanostructures [39].
As seen in Table 1, as Pd content in PS increases, hydro-
gen extraction gets slower. This result can be interpreted by
the Pd particles that are included inside the PS, inhibiting
the penetration of solution into the PS layer, as well as by the
existence of a larger initial layer of silicon oxide that serves
as a protective barrier [39].
Manilov and Skryshevsky have showed that Pd greatly
slows down the evolution of H ­ 2, which may be explained by
blocking the internal PS surface with a layer of Pd particles
close to the sample's outer surface, as well as by an initial
deficiency in ­SiHx groups and the partial oxidation of such
structures. [39].
In a recent work, Boaks and Schubert explain recent
research done to determine the kinetics of hydrogen inter-
action with Si surfaces. Density function theory (DFT) was
used to predict the behavior of PS during hydrogenation, and
the results demonstrated that PS possesses at least 1.36 wt % Fig. 7  Performance of Si wafer, PS, Pd/PS, and GO-Pd/PS/Si in
hydrogen storage density [41]. terms of cyclic life [40]

13

Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.

Silicon
Table 1  Following chemical treatment of the studied samples for 18 h
at room temperature, total amounts of H­ 2 (mL per milliliter of the
sample) were extracted [39]
Sample Hydrogen
volume, mL/
mg
PS 1.2–1.3
PS + 1%Pd 0.90–1.14
PS + 1%Pd with ­H2 treatment 1.04–1.27
PS + 10%Pd 0.52–0.65
PS + 10%Pd with ­H2 treatment 0.17–0.65
Durr and colleagues, in the transition state of the pro-
cess, the covalent Si–Si and Si–H bonds significantly deform
the lattice, which leads to complex dynamics. Because of a
series of investigations involving optical second-harmonic
generation, molecular beam techniques, and scanning tun-
neling microscopy, the work offers a profound microscopic
understanding of hydrogen adsorption on Si (001) and Si
(111) surfaces. The findings show that hydrogen dissociative
adsorption and re-combinative desorption on the Si (001)
surface are mediated by dangling bonds of two adjacent
dimers.The reactivity of Si with hydrogen is highly influ-
enced by surface coverage and temperature[42]. Lysenko and
colleagues efforts have increased to manufacture Si-based
tiny fuel cells for portable electronics. One of the important
concerns is hydrogen storage in such microsystems that can
be directly compatible with Si-based technologies [43].
Scientists are interested in studying the hydrogen stor-
age capacity of bulk Si derivatives as PS, Si nanowires,
and Si nanotubes because of their enhanced surface area.
Si nanotubes were the subject of a multi-scale theoretical
investigation that discovered 2.89 wt % of adsorption at 100
pressures at 298 K [14], but J. Ryou et al. demonstrated
that pure Si nano-tubes are not suitable for hydrogen storage
[44]. Given that the computed encapsulated energy is nega-
tive, it is possible that the encapsulated state is superior to
the separate configuration of Si and hydrogen nanotubes in
the range. As a result, hydrogen cannot be contained inside
Si nanotubes, not even in its most stable state. It is a well-
known procedure to anodize Si wafers in hydrofluoric acid
(HF) to create freestanding PS film [34, 35]. The observa-
tion of photoluminescence sparked interest in PS research
with the goal of developing optical devices such as light
generating devices [36]. PS has a wide range of intricate
structural variations that are formed under various anodiza-
tion conditions. Pore formation has been thoroughly studied
in terms of phenomenological theories, simulation models,
and self-organizational characteristics that have been applied
to explain a range of experimental findings [15, 45, 46]. The
enormous internal surface area of PS nanostructures (up to
1000 ­m2/cm3) is covered by ­SiHx bonds. [47].
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
Fig. 8  Si nanoparticles' FTIR spectra before and after hydrogena-
tion [9]
The nanoscale morphological properties of the nano-
structures play a critical role in the hydrogen coverage
of meso-PS nanostructures [48]. The amount of hydrogen
chemically bonded to the surface of the particular PS is
significantly associated with the size and shape of the Si
nano crystallites that make up the PS nanostructures. It
has been showed that increasing the PS specific surface by
reducing the diameter of the Si nano crystallites that make
up the porous layer increases the PS specific surface and
hence increases hydrogen concentration. [34]. This sub-
stance is suitable for use as a hydrogen reservoir because
to the emission of molecular hydrogen caused by the heat-
induced breakdown of SiHx groups uniformly covering
the PS nanostructures [49]. It was discovered that 2 mmol/
gm of hydrogen was thermally desorbed from a 120 mm
thick, 60% mesoporous free standing layer, with a maxi-
mum value of 15 mmol/gm at 90% porosity. S. Litvinenko
et al. [50] investigate stain etching of Si powder to make
PS as a technology alternative to traditional electrochemi-
cal etching. Because it is safe and customizable, the author
proposes that extracting hydrogen in a water environment
with a little amount of N ­ H3 as a catalyst is a good technol-
ogy for possible applications. To boost overall efficiency,
this approach removes both hydrogen bound to PS and
hydrogen from water molecules [9].
Results of hydrogen absorption tests performed on silicon
nanoparticles by Kale et al. [9] were documented. They employed
silicon nanoparticles to achieve a capacity of 2.25 wt %.
Figure  8 shows the FTIR transmittance spectrum at
P = 9.76 bar and 150 °C before and after hydrogenation.
After hydrogenation, ­SiHx peaks in the FTIR spectra were
sharper, which was attributed to the sample absorbing hydro-
gen [9].
13
 Silicon
Fig. 9  a) UV–vis spectra of hydrogenated Si nanoparticles as they
have been synthesized. b) Tauc plot for indirect band gap calculation
[9].
As demonstrated in Fig. 9, the Tauc plot for a prepared
Si nanoparticle sample is nearly straight, whereas one for
a sample that has been hydrogenated at P = 9.76 bar and
T = 150 °C exhibits an exponential rise, indicating that the
sample has absorbed hydrogen [9].
Merazga et al. has studied nanoporous silicon that was
producted by electrochemical anodization for hydrogen stor-
age [12]. The impact of PS anodization parameters as well
as, thickness, porosity, and active surface area on the quan-
tity of hydrogen chemically bonded to nanoporous silicon
structures (Table 2).
As shown in the Fig. 10, The spectra of PS show that
­SiHx groups are present on the PS surface (x = 1,2 or 3);
According to published datas are indicated meso and nano-
PS structures, respectively (Si–H), (Si-H2), and (Si-H3) [12].
13
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
Table 2  Variations in porosity, thickness, and specific surface area
are observed in PS layers produced at varied anodization times [12]
Sample Anodization Thickness (µm) Specific Porosity (%)
Time (min) surface area
­(m2/m3)
S1 3 2.58 664.9 69
S2 5 3.31 710.3 73
S3 7 3.58 590.6 67
S4 10 5.50 510.9 62
Different materials, such as nanostructured Ni/Graphene
(Ni/GNS) (with an electrochemical hydrogen storage volume
of 160 mA h g­ −1)[51], palladium-doped graphene/ carbon
composites, have been explored for electrochemical hydro-
gen storage (0.82 wt %) [52], DC-Arc discharge technique
graphene sheets (147.8 mAh g −1) [53], single walled carbon
nanotubes cleaned and opened (800 mA h ­g−1) [54], single-
walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) purified (316 mAh g­ −1)
[55], ­TiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) coated multi-walled carbon
nanotubes (MWCNTs) with a volume of 540 mA h ­g−1 [56],
and various hybrids [56–58].
Lysenko et  al. [43]’s investigation into monocrystal-
line silicon as a hydrogen storage device is another point.
A maximum value of 66 mmol/g was measured for stor-
age using the attenuated total reflection infrared method.
As a substrate, PS has also been the subject of numerous
studies. He et al. [59], for instance, developed a hybrid sys-
tem based on SWCNT and PS. 7.93 × ­10–2 mmol/g was the
highest result that was made public. Given the large amount
of interconnected macro, micro, and nanopores that make
up porous media’s void volume [60], these materials can
undoubtedly offer an effective storage solution. The results
showed metallic nanoparticles aid in the storage of hydrogen
Fig. 10  Absorption FTIR spectra of Si substrate: Following Si etch-
ing into a 1:1 in volume HF/Ethanol solution at 20 mA/cm.2 current
density for various etching times [12]
Silicon
[52]. Transitional metals, especially V catalysts, boost the
hydrogen storage capacity (HSC) of structures by atomizing
hydrogen molecules via the spillover process [61]. Metal
nanoparticles, like Pd have an inherent void volume that
makes them potential hydrogen reservoirs [52].
5 Other Application Areas of ps
Due to its high visible photoluminescence emission effi-
ciency and big interior surface area, gas sensors and light-
emitting diodes (LED) can both use it [62, 63]. Furthermore,
because of its flexibility and non-hazardous qualities, PS is
now utilised in biomedical applications [64]. A recent study
[65] employed 3D printing to create graphene-coated PS
materials with high strain-recoverability and resilience to
temperature and humidity for biomonitoring for wearable
devices. Furthermore, silicon wafers are electrochemically
etched to make PS with hydrofluoric acid was utilized in the
manufacture of perovskite solar cells [66]. Besides, previous
studies noted that a substantial amount of hydrogen is cre-
ated and stored in the PS nanostructures during the creation
of PS thin films by electrochemical etching, demonstrating
that PS can be hydrogen reservoirs [43]. On the other hand,
the electrochemical etching approach is costly and danger-
ous, and the volume of PS thin film produced is extremely
limited [67]. A different method of producing PS by chemi-
cally etching an Al-Si alloy was given in certain publica-
tions [68, 69] as an efficient catalyst for the reduction of
p-nitrophenol and the storage of lithium, respectively. Using
ball milling and HCl etching, Sun et al. recently created
PS from Al-Si alloy for a high reversible capacity lithium
ion battery anode material [70]. To the best of the authors'
knowledge, this study is the first to look at how well the
PS material made from an Al-Si alloy can store hydrogen.
Double etching during production and the addition of a Ni
catalyst before hydrogenation tests boosted the PS powder's
ability to store hydrogen even more [5].
6 Conclusion and Outlook
This review shows how hydrogen plays a crucial role in the
characteristics of PS. Involved in the Si etching process,
hydrogen ions and molecules both contribute to the bulk of
the material and form the surface passivation of the result-
ing porous matrix. As a result, PS's distinctive qualities are
caused by both its hydrogen-assisted chemical composition
and the formed pores.
The first practical application of PS is energy, which
hydrogen in PS makes it appropriate for. The simple methods
of hydrogen extraction outlined in this paper and solid-state
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
hydrogen reservoirs based on PS make this material a useful
hydrogen source. Additional hydrogen buildup in PS, its use
in fuel cells, and other future research topics are still being
explored in this area.
In the light of the above findings, his research argues that
hydrogen offers PS specific characteristics and applications
that are advantageous for current employment and conse-
quently for future research.
Acknowledgements  The authors acknowledge TUBITAK the financial
support for the execution of this work.
Author contributions  MG: Conceptualization, Visualization, Data
curation, Writing-Review & Editing.
Funding  This research was financially supported by a research grant
from TUBITAK.
Data availability  The data that support the findings of this study are
available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Declarations 
Ethical Approval  The results/data/figures in this manuscript have not
been published elsewhere, nor they are under consideration by another
publisher.
Consent to Participate  All authors have agreed to participate in this
research work.
Consent for Publication  All authors have given consent for the publica-
tion of the manuscript in its current form.
Competing Interests  The authors declare no competing interests.
References
1. Tettey UYA, Gustavsson L (2020) Energy savings and overheating
risk of deep energy renovation of a multi-storey residential build-
ing in a cold climate under climate change. Energy 202:117578
2. Rabaia MKH, Abdelkareem MA, Sayed ET, Elsaid K, Chae K-J,
Wilberforce T, Olabi AG (2021) Environmental impacts of solar
energy systems: a review. Sci Total Environ 754:141989
3. Mahmoud M, Ramadan M, Olabi AG, Pullen K, Naher S (2020)
A review of mechanical energy storage systems combined with
wind and solar applications. Energy Convers Manage 210:112670
4. Olabi AG, Mahmoud M, Soudan B, Wilberforce T, Ramadan M
(2020) Geothermal based hybrid energy systems, toward eco-
friendly energy approaches. Renewable Energy 147:2003–2012
5. Li H, Retita I, Huang J, Chan SLI (2022) Hydrogen storage capa-
bility of porous silicon powder fabricated from Al–Si alloy. Mater
Chem Phys 276:125405
6. Shiraz HG, Seyfollahi R (2016) Hybrid system for potential room
temperature hydrogen storage. Vacuum 131:115–119
7. Baykara SZ (2018) Hydrogen: A brief overview on its sources,
production and environmental impact. Int J Hydrogen Energy
43(23):10605–10614
8. Shi S, Hwang JY (2007) Research frontier on new materi-
als and concepts for hydrogen storage. Int J Hydrogen Energy
32(2):224–228
13
 Silicon
9. Kale P, Gangal AC, Edla R, Sharma P (2012) Investigation of
hydrogen storage behavior of silicon nanoparticles. Int J Hydrog
Energy 37(4):3741–3747
10. Schlapbach L, Züttel A (2001) Hydrogen-storage materials for
mobile applications. Nature 414(6861):353–358
11. Lin RH, Xi XN, Wang PN, Wu BD, Tian SM (2019) Review on
hydrogen fuel cell condition monitoring and prediction methods.
Int J Hydrogen Energy 44(11):5488–5498
12. Merazga S, Cheriet A, M’hammedi K, Mefoued A, Gabouze N
(2019) Investigation of porous silicon thin films for electrochemi-
cal hydrogen storage. Int J Hydrogen Energy 44(20):9994–10002
13. Barthélémy H, Weber M, Barbier F (2017) Hydrogen storage:
Recent improvements and industrial perspectives. Int J Hydrogen
Energy 42(11):7254–7262
14. Lan J, Cheng D, Cao D, Wang W (2008) Silicon nanotube as a
promising candidate for hydrogen storage: from the first princi-
ple calculations to grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The
Journal of Physical Chemistry C 112(14):5598–5604
15. John GC, Singh VA (1995) Porous silicon: theoretical studies.
Phys Rep 263(2):93–151
16. Wang X, Maeda K, Thomas A, Takanabe K, Xin G, Carlsson
JM, Antonietti M (2009) A metal-free polymeric photocatalyst
for hydrogen production from water under visible light. Nat Mater
8(1):76–80
17. Das D, Veziroǧlu TN (2001) Hydrogen production by biologi-
cal processes: a survey of literature. Int J Hydrogen Energy
26(1):13–28
18. Amirav L, Alivisatos AP (2010) Photocatalytic hydrogen pro-
duction with tunable nanorod heterostructures. J Phys Chem Lett
1(7):1051–1054
19. Zuo F, Wang L, Wu T, Zhang Z, Borchardt D, Feng P (2010)
Self-doped Ti3+ enhanced photocatalyst for hydrogen production
under visible light. J Am Chem Soc 132(34):11856–11857
20. KOŞAR, C. Hidrojen Depolama Yöntemleri. Open Journal of
Nano, 6(1), 1–10.
21. Atesin TA, Bashir S, Liu JL (2017) Nanostructured Materials for
Next-Generation Energy Storage and Conversion. Springer
22. Lebrouhi, B. E., Djoupo, J. J., Lamrani, B., Benabdelaziz, K., &
Kousksou, T. (2022). Global hydrogen development-A technologi-
cal and geopolitical overview. International Journal of Hydrogen
Energy.
23. Hames Y, Kaya K, Baltacioglu E, Turksoy A (2018) Analysis
of the control strategies for fuel saving in the hydrogen fuel cell
vehicles. Int J Hydrogen Energy 43(23):10810–10821
24. Motalleb M, Đukić A, Firak M (2015) Solar hydrogen power
system for isolated passive house. Int J Hydrogen Energy
40(46):16001–16009
25. Ozsaban M, Midilli A (2016) A parametric study on exergetic
sustainability aspects of high-pressure hydrogen gas compression.
Int J Hydrogen Energy 41(11):5321–5334
26. Ozcan H, Dincer I (2017) Energy and exergy analyses of a solar
based hydrogen production and compression system. Int J Hydrog
Energy 42(33):21414–21428
27. Bhouri M, Linder M, Bürger I (2018) Metal hydride reactor for
dual use: Hydrogen storage and cold production. Int J Hydrogen
Energy 43(52):23357–23371
28. Zhang J, Yan S, Qu H, Yu XF, Peng P (2017) Alkali metal
silanides α-MSiH3: A family of complex hydrides for solid-state
hydrogen storage. Int J Hydrogen Energy 42(17):12405–12413
29. Dincă M, Long JR (2008) Hydrogen storage in microporous
metal–organic frameworks with exposed metal sites. Angew
Chem Int Ed 47(36):6766–6779
30. Masika E, Mokaya R (2014) Exceptional gravimetric and volu-
metric hydrogen storage for densified zeolite templated carbons
with high mechanical stability. Energy Environ Sci 7(1):427–434
13
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
31. Dalebrook AF, Gan W, Grasemann M, Moret S, Laurenczy G
(2013) Hydrogen storage: beyond conventional methods. Chem
Commun 49(78):8735–8751
32. Huang J, Liang Y, Dong H, Hu H, Yu P, Peng L, Liu Y (2018)
Revealing contribution of pore size to high hydrogen storage
capacity. Int J Hydrog Energy 43(39):18077–18082
33. Gronich, S. (2000). DOE hydrogen program overview. Proceed-
ings of the 2000 US DOE hydrogen review.
34. Uhlir A Jr (1956) Electrolytic shaping of germanium and silicon.
Bell Syst Tech J 35(2):333–347
35. Turner DR (1958) Electropolishing silicon in hydrofluoric acid
solutions. J Electrochem Soc 105(7):402
36. Memming R, Schwandt G (1966) Anodic dissolution of silicon in
hydrofluoric acid solutions. Surf Sci 4(2):109–124
37. Carraro PM, Blanco AG, Soria FA, Lener G, Sapag K, Eimer
GA, Oliva MI (2016) Understanding the role of nickel on the
hydrogen storage capacity of Ni/MCM-41 materials. Microporous
Mesoporous Mater 231:31–39
38. Wang Z, Wang F, Li M, Iqbal MZ, Lu Y, Xu M, Li Q (2014)
Synthesis, characterization and hydrogen storage characteristics
of flower-like SnO2 porous microspheres. Mater Lett 119:36–38
39. Manilov AI, Skryshevsky VA (2013) Hydrogen in porous sili-
con—a review. Mater Sci Eng, B 178(15):942–955
40. Honarpazhouh Y, Astaraei FR, Naderi HR, Tavakoli O (2016)
Electrochemical hydrogen storage in Pd-coated porous silicon/
graphene oxide. Int J Hydrogen Energy 41(28):12175–12182
41. Boaks M, Schubert PJ (2019) Kinetics of hydrogen storage on
catalytically-modified porous silicon. J Catal 371:81–87
42. Dürr M, Höfer U (2006) Dissociative adsorption of molecular
hydrogen on silicon surfaces. Surf Sci Rep 61(12):465–526
43. Lysenko V, Bidault F, Alekseev S, Zaitsev V, Barbier D, Turpin
C, Garrone E (2005) Study of porous silicon nanostructures as
hydrogen reservoirs. J Phys Chem B 109(42):19711–19718
44. Ryou J, Hong S, Kim G (2008) Hydrogen adsorption on hexagonal
silicon nanotubes. Solid State Commun 148(9–10):469–471
45. Parkhutik V (1999) Porous silicon—mechanisms of growth and
applications. Solid-State Electron 43(6):1121–1141
46. John GC, Singh VA (1997) Self-organization in porous silicon
formation. Phys Rev B 56(8):4638
47. Bratu P, Brenig W, Gro A, Hartmann M, Höfer U, Kratzer P, Russ
R (1996) Reaction dynamics of molecular hydrogen on silicon
surfaces. Phys Rev B 54(8):5978
48. Lysenko V, Vitiello J, Remaki B, Barbier D, Skryshevsky VJASS
(2004) Nanoscale morphology dependent hydrogen coverage of
meso-porous silicon. Appl Surf Sci 230(1–4):425–430
49. Rivolo P, Geobaldo F, Rocchia M, Amato G, Rossi AM, Garrone
E (2003) Joint FTIR and TPD study of hydrogen desorption from
p+-type porous silicon. Physica status solidi (a) 197(1):217–221
50. Litvinenko S, Alekseev S, Lysenko V, Venturello A, Geobaldo
F, Gulina L, Barbier D (2010) Hydrogen production from nano-
porous Si powder formed by stain etching. Int J Hydrog Energy
35(13):6773–6778
51. Choi MH, Min YJ, Gwak GH, Paek SM, Oh JM (2014) A nano-
structured Ni/graphene hybrid for enhanced electrochemical
hydrogen storage. J Alloy Compd 610:231–235
52. Chen CH, Chung TY, Shen CC, Yu MS, Tsao CS, Shi GN,
Lee WL (2013) Hydrogen storage performance in palladium-
doped graphene/carbon composites. Int J Hydrog Energy
38(9):3681–3688
53. Guo GF, Huang H, Xue FH, Liu CJ, Yu HT, Quan X, Dong
XL (2013) Electrochemical hydrogen storage of the graphene
sheets prepared by DC arc-discharge method. Surf Coat Technol
228:S120–S125
54. Rajalakshmi N, Dhathathreyan KS, Govindaraj A, Satishku-
mar BC (2000) Electrochemical investigation of single-walled
Silicon
carbon nanotubes for hydrogen storage. Electrochim Acta
45(27):4511–4515
55. Dai GP, Liu M, Hou PX, Tong Y, Cheng HM (2002) Electrochem-
ical charge-discharge capacity of purified single-walled carbon
nanotubes. Electrochem Solid-State Lett 5(4):E13
56. Liu E, Wang J, Li J, Shi C, He C, Du X, Zhao N (2011) Enhanced
electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity of multi-walled
carbon nanotubes by TiO2 decoration. Int J Hydrogen Energy
36(11):6739–6743
57. Li S, Zhao HM, Jena P (2011) Ti-doped nano-porous graphene: A
material for hydrogen storage and sensor. Front Phys 6:204–208
58. Ismail N, Madian M, El-Shall MS (2015) Reduced graphene oxide
doped with Ni/Pd nanoparticles for hydrogen storage application.
J Ind Eng Chem 30:328–335
59. He Z, Wang S, Wang X, Iqbal Z (2013) Hydrogen storage in hier-
archical nanoporous silicon–carbon nanotube architectures. Int J
Energy Res 37(7):754–760
60. Dybtsev DN, Chun H, Yoon SH, Kim D, Kim K (2004) Micropo-
rous manganese formate: a simple metal− organic porous material
with high framework stability and highly selective gas sorption
properties. J Am Chem Soc 126(1):32–33
61. Im JS, Yun J, Kang SC, Lee SK, Lee YS (2012) Hydrogen adsorp-
tion on activated carbon nanotubes with an atomic-sized vanadium
catalyst investigated by electrical resistance measurements. Appl
Surf Sci 258(7):2749–2756
62. Gelloz B (2014) Photoluminescence of porous silicon. In: Can-
ham L (ed) Handbook of Porous Silicon. Springer International
Publishing, Cham, pp 307–320
63. Lawrence B, Alagumanikumaran N, Prithivikumaran N, Jeya-
kumaran N, Ramadas V, Natarajan B (2013) Effect of surface
modification on the porous silicon infiltrated with biomolecules.
Appl Surf Sci 264:767–771
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
64. Sharma P, Sun X, Parish G, Keating A (2021) Optimising porous
silicon electrical properties for thermal sensing applications.
Microporous Mesoporous Mater 312:110767
65. Davoodi E, Montazerian H, Haghniaz R, Rashidi A, Ahadian S,
Sheikhi A, Toyserkani E (2020) 3D-printed ultra-robust surface-
doped porous silicone sensors for wearable biomonitoring. ACS
Nano 14(2):1520–1532
66. Khalaph KA, Shanan ZJ, Al-Attar FM, Abd AN, Jafar AM (2020)
Fabrication and investigation of hybrid Perovskite solar cells
based on porous silicon. Mater Today Proc 20:605–610
67. Loni, A. (2014). Porous silicon formation by anodization. Hand-
book of Porous silicon, 1.
68. Bakar NA, Ridzwan A, Tan WL, Bakar MA, Sabri NA (2019)
Facile preparation of porous silicon from cost-wise silicon powder
as effective catalyst for reduction of p-nitrophenol. Mater Chem
Phys 232:387–392
69. Zhang X, Huang M, Yang C, Dai G, Huang J (2017) Fabrication
of porous Si/nitrogen doped carbon composite and its enhanced
lithium storage capability. Mater Chem Phys 201:302–310
70. Sun J, Li J, Ban B, Shi J, Wang Q, Chen J (2020) A simple method
to fabricate size and porosity tunable Si by Al–Si alloy as lithium
ion battery anode material. Electrochim Acta 345:136242
Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds
exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the
author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted
manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of
such publishing agreement and applicable law.
13
Terms and Conditions
Springer Nature journal content, brought to you courtesy of Springer Nature Customer Service Center GmbH (“Springer Nature”).
Springer Nature supports a reasonable amount of sharing of research papers by authors, subscribers and authorised users (“Users”), for small-
scale personal, non-commercial use provided that all copyright, trade and service marks and other proprietary notices are maintained. By
accessing, sharing, receiving or otherwise using the Springer Nature journal content you agree to these terms of use (“Terms”). For these
purposes, Springer Nature considers academic use (by researchers and students) to be non-commercial.
These Terms are supplementary and will apply in addition to any applicable website terms and conditions, a relevant site licence or a personal
subscription. These Terms will prevail over any conflict or ambiguity with regards to the relevant terms, a site licence or a personal subscription
(to the extent of the conflict or ambiguity only). For Creative Commons-licensed articles, the terms of the Creative Commons license used will
apply.
We collect and use personal data to provide access to the Springer Nature journal content. We may also use these personal data internally within
ResearchGate and Springer Nature and as agreed share it, in an anonymised way, for purposes of tracking, analysis and reporting. We will not
otherwise disclose your personal data outside the ResearchGate or the Springer Nature group of companies unless we have your permission as
detailed in the Privacy Policy.
While Users may use the Springer Nature journal content for small scale, personal non-commercial use, it is important to note that Users may
not:

1. use such content for the purpose of providing other users with access on a regular or large scale basis or as a means to circumvent access
control;
2. use such content where to do so would be considered a criminal or statutory offence in any jurisdiction, or gives rise to civil liability, or is
otherwise unlawful;
3. falsely or misleadingly imply or suggest endorsement, approval , sponsorship, or association unless explicitly agreed to by Springer Nature in
writing;
4. use bots or other automated methods to access the content or redirect messages
5. override any security feature or exclusionary protocol; or
6. share the content in order to create substitute for Springer Nature products or services or a systematic database of Springer Nature journal
content.
In line with the restriction against commercial use, Springer Nature does not permit the creation of a product or service that creates revenue,
royalties, rent or income from our content or its inclusion as part of a paid for service or for other commercial gain. Springer Nature journal
content cannot be used for inter-library loans and librarians may not upload Springer Nature journal content on a large scale into their, or any
other, institutional repository.
These terms of use are reviewed regularly and may be amended at any time. Springer Nature is not obligated to publish any information or
content on this website and may remove it or features or functionality at our sole discretion, at any time with or without notice. Springer Nature
may revoke this licence to you at any time and remove access to any copies of the Springer Nature journal content which have been saved.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Springer Nature makes no warranties, representations or guarantees to Users, either express or implied
with respect to the Springer nature journal content and all parties disclaim and waive any implied warranties or warranties imposed by law,
including merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.
Please note that these rights do not automatically extend to content, data or other material published by Springer Nature that may be licensed
from third parties.
If you would like to use or distribute our Springer Nature journal content to a wider audience or on a regular basis or in any other manner not
expressly permitted by these Terms, please contact Springer Nature at

onlineservice@springernature.com