Hydrazine borane (N(2)H(4)BH(3)) is the novel boron- and nitrogen-based material appearing to be a promising candidate in chemical hydrogen storage. It stores 15.4 wt% of hydrogen in hydridic and protic forms, and the challenge is to release H(2) with maximum efficiency, if possible all hydrogen stored in the material. An important step to realize this ambitious goal is to synthesize HB with high yields and high purity, and to characterize it fully. In this work, we report a 2-step synthesis (salt metathesis and solvent extraction-drying) through which N(2)H(4)BH(3) is successfully obtained in 3 days, with a yield of about 80% and a purity of 99.6%. N(2)H(4)BH(3) was characterized by NMR, IR, XRD, TGA and DSC, its stability in dioxane and water was determined, and its thermolysis by-products were characterized. We thus present a complete data sheet that should be very useful for future studies. Furthermore, we propose a discussion on the potential of HB (with H(2) released by either thermolysis or hydrolysis) in chemical hydrogen storage.

SUMMARY The development of the hydrogen economy is hampered by many issues connected with production, storage, distribution, and end‐use. Although the hydrogen storage problem is particularly difficult, there are several attractive solutions under investigation, and chemical hydrogen storage (involving hydrogen‐rich materials) has shown much promising properties. The boron‐based materials are typical examples. They have high hydrogen densities, with up to four reactive B − H bonds. Most of the works have focused on dehydrogenation by hydrolysis or thermolysis so that it takes place in high extent in mild conditions. The first materials studied have been lithium borohydride, sodium borohydride, and ammonia borane. However, their development has been hindered by technical issues such as very high dehydrogenation temperatures, incomplete reaction, and purity of the produced hydrogen. To get round such problems, new materials have been proposed since the mid‐2000s. Interestingly, those materials present attractive attributes, but also drawbacks. This is illustrated in the present review. We believe that boron‐based hydrides have a significant potential in chemical hydrogen storage, but their implementation depends on the recyclability of the solid by‐products; this seems to be the key factor. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.