Spill-over effect as a hydrogen transfer mechanism is proposed to explain an increased capacity of hydrogen absorption and improvement of hydrogen activation kinetics in composite material based on the AB(5) type metal hydride and powdered glass. A raw lanthanum nickel alloy AB5 with small amount of additives was used as catalyst and bulk material for hydrogen storage, and a borosilicate glass powder with developed surface was applied as a support material. Thermogravimetric technique to determine an absorbed amount of the hydrogen in materials and X-ray powder diffraction analysis for structural investigations was used. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.