The material is a free-flowing powder that is easily handled in dry air. It does not react with oxygen and absorbs moisture from air slowly without ignition.
The powder can be created by absorbing sodium in porous silicon dioxide, or reacting sodium directly with elemental silicon. The byproducts from the process are sodium silicate and water vapour.
According to the company, the POM is a convenient sources of H2 for portable fuel cell applications and can be used to fuel electric bikes. Using this system could power electric bicycles to go 60 miles without any pedalling, as opposed to the 20 mile limit for most existing models.
