Robin, > Surely when dissolved in water NaH just yields NaOH + H2?
In the end yes - of course - in fact it has been suggested as a suitable hydrogen "carrier" for the so-called hydrogen economy. BTW - here are some relevant numbers which are handy to have around. 12Kg ( 26.45lb) of NaH are required to deliver 1Kg of Hydrogen gas. 1 mol of hydrogen = 2.0 grams = 22.4 standard liters 1 kilogram of hydrogen = 33.3 kilowatt-hours = .12 gigajoules 1 gram of Hydrogen = 33.333333 watts = 113.814198 Btu 1 standard of cubic foot H2 = 2.53 grams = 28.32 liters = .028 cubic meters Heat of combustion of hydrogen: 241.8 kilojoules / mol of H2 (LHZ) Hydrogen weighs just 0.08988 grams per liter Sodium Hydride (NaH) will release 1300 times it's volume in hydrogen The hydrogen gas produced with NaH and water is 99.997% pure (low NOx
