A study on the hydrogen storage properties of flexible and porous La0.8Mg0.2Ni3.8/PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) composite was reported. In this composite, PVDF acted as a binder to connect the alloy powders and (NH4)(2)CO3 as a pore-forming agent to create void space. Increasing PVDF content, the hydrogen absorption kinetics of the composite gradually decreased. Increasing (NH4)(2)CO3 from 1% to 5%, the capacity firstly increased and then decreased. 0.08-0.13 wt% increased capacity for the composite was observed at 70 degrees C by comparison with the intrinsic composite (La0.8Mg0.2Ni3.8/1%PVDF). Varying temperature from 0 degrees C to 100 degrees C, 0.1-0.15 wt% increased capacity were obtained for the typical porous composite (La0.8Mg0.2Ni3.8/1%PVDF/3%(NH4)(2)CO3). The PVDF-assisted composite showed the flexible/solidified characteristic in hydriding/dehydriding, which maybe lowed down the oxidation of the alloy powders and preserved the void space. Finally, similar to 0.1 wt% increased capacity remained after ten hydriding/dehydriding cycles. Copyright (C) 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.