The effect of heating rates and various catalysts on the hydrogen release characteristics of LiAlH(4) were studied by pressure-content-temperature (PCT) experiments. Reducing the heating rate caused a reduction of the decomposition temperature of LiAlH(4) and made the second step hydrogen release more obvious; however, there was no significant effect on the total amount of hydrogen release. The catalysts studied included Ce(SO(4))(2), LaCl(3) and Ni. The results indicated that doping with Ce(SO(4))(2), LaCl(3) and Ni reduced the temperature and the amount of hydrogen release of LiAlH(4) (c) 2006 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.