Aluminium hydride (AlH3) is a promising hydrogen storage material due to its competitive hydrogen storage density and moderate decomposition temperature. However, there is no convenient way to prepare/regenerate AlH3 from (spent) Al by direct hydrogenation. Herein, we report on a novel approach to generate AlH3 from the decomposition of triethylaluminium (Et3Al) under mild hydrogen pressures (10 MPa) with the use of surfactants. With tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOAB), the synthesis led to the formation of nano sized AIH(3) with the known alpha phase, and these nanoparticles released hydrogen from 40 degrees C instead of the 125 degrees C observed with bulk alpha-AlH3. However, when tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) was used instead of TOAB, larger nanoparticles believed to be related to the formation of beta-AlH3 were obtained, and these decomposed through a single exothermic process. Despite the possibility to form alpha-AlH3 under low conditions of temperature (180 degrees C) and pressure (10 MPa), TOAB stabilised AlH3 was found to be irreversible when subjected to hydrogen cycling at 150 degrees C and 7 MPa hydrogen pressure. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.