Researchers at the University of Amsterdam have found a way to protect their hydrogen-releasing cobalt catalyst from degradation: flexible, porous spheres made from shrimp waste.

A practical challenge in creating a hydrogen economy is the safety risk posed by high-pressure and liquid hydrogen. An alternative is to store hydrogen in a salt, such as potassium borohydride (KBH4), and then release it in a controlled manner through a catalysed reaction with water. There are many metals and oxides that catalyse this reaction, but the stability of the catalyst during the reaction is still an issue, because the high pH and hydrogen bubbles formed during the reaction cause the catalyst to degrade rapidly.