Advances in catalytic hydrogen storage materials: progress, breakthroughs, and challenges toward scalable applications

Hydrogen storage and release catalysts that are large-scale, efficient, and reversible provide a significant challenge for the development of long-term hydrogen energy systems (HES). This review critically examines catalytic approaches to hydrogen storage systems (HSS), including, metal hydrides, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), porous materials, nanostructured catalysts, bimetallic alloys, hybrid composites, and single-atom catalysts (SACs). It evaluates how catalyst composition, structure, and active-site properties influence hydrogen activation, transport, sorption kinetics, cycling stability, and reversibility. Drawing on experimental findings and theoretical approaches, the review compares these relationships across different material classes. This comparative focus extends assessments based on individual materials or catalyst classes by identifying shared design principles and materials specific limitations. Finally, it outlines the main barriers and proposes research directions for developing sustainable, efficient, and reversible hydrogen storage.