Scientists have built the first rechargeable hydride ion battery.
Hydride ions (H⁻) have drawn interest as potential charge carriers for future electrochemical devices because of their extremely low mass and high redox potential. Yet, progress has been limited since no electrolyte has been able to provide the combination of rapid ion movement, thermal stability, and compatibility with electrodes that such systems require.
A recent study in Nature reports a breakthrough from Prof. Ping Chen and his team at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The researchers created a new type of core–shell hydride ion electrolyte and successfully assembled the first prototype of a rechargeable hydride ion battery.
Researchers have developed the first room-temperature all-solid-state hydride ion battery. Credit: DICP
Using a heterojunction-inspired design, researchers synthesized a novel core–shell composite hydride, 3CeH3@BaH2, where a thin BaH2 shell encapsulates CeH3. This structure leverages the high hydride ion conductivity of CeH3 and the stability of BaH2, enabling fast hydride ion conduction at room temperature along with high thermal and electrochemical stability.
The Prototype Hydride Ion Battery
Furthermore, researchers constructed a CeH2|3CeH3@BaH2|NaAlH4 all-solid-state hydride ion prototype battery using NaAlH4, a classical hydrogen storage material, as the cathode active component. The positive electrode of the battery delivered an initial discharge capacity of 984 mAh/g at room temperature and retained 402 mAh/g after 20 cycles.
In a stacked configuration, the operating voltage reached 1.9 V, powering a yellow light-emitting diode lamp, which was a compelling example for practical applications.
By adopting hydrogen as the charge carrier, this technology avoided dendrite formation, paving the way for safe, efficient, and sustainable energy storage. With the tunable properties of hydride-based materials, hydride ion batteries hold immense potential for clean energy storage and conversion.
Reference: “A room temperature rechargeable all-solid-state hydride ion battery” by Jirong Cui, Ren Zou, Weijin Zhang, Hong Wen, Jinyao Liu, Shangshang Wang, Shukun Liu, Hetong Chen, Wei Liu, Xiaohua Ju, Weiwei Wang, Tao Gan, Jiong Li, Jianping Guo, Teng He, Hujun Cao and Ping Chen, 17 September 2025, Nature.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09561-3
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