TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - METALLURGY - Preferred Component: The solid metal alloy composition comprises Laves phase material containing titanium and chromium, or titanium, chromium, and manganese. Preferred Parameter: The first temperature and any repeated cooling temperature are 0 to - 190, preferably - 300 to - 190 degrees C. The pressure of hydrogen atmosphere during the first cooling step or any repeated cooling step is 50-200 bars. The duration of the first cooling step or any repeated cooling step is 1-3 hours. The second temperature and any repeated heating temperature are 100-350, preferably 100-200 degrees C. Preferred Method: The hydrogen storage metal alloy composition is prepared by fusion of elemental constituents of the composition, where the material to be prepared comprises pieces of solidified ingots of the prepared composition. A quantity of solid metal alloy composition is cooled to a first predetermined temperature using liquid nitrogen or dry ice-alcohol bath. EXAMPLE - Arc melted titanium chromium manganese (Ti1.1CrMn) material was ball milled to yield multifaceted shaped particles of 20-35 mu m in largest dimension. Initially, the particles were placed in a sample holder for excluding oxygen and evacuated for 1 hour at room temperature (25 degrees C). The material was then cooled to - 190 degrees C by dipping the sample holder at - 190 degrees C within 5 minutes. Simultaneously, hydrogen pressure was applied and increased to 175 bars. Ti1.1CrMn alloy was soaked at this cold temperature and hydrogen pressure for 3 hours. After soaking, the sample holder was evacuated of hydrogen and the holder and alloy heated to 100 degrees C within 10 minutes. Hydrogen was first vented from the sample holder into a receiving vessel in which the recovered hydrogen could be measured. After non-absorbed hydrogen was vented, vacuum was applied to remove residual hydrogen from Ti1.1CrMn material. The evacuation of hydrogen at this temperature continued for 1 hour. Hydrogen gas at known pressures was applied to the samples (or released from the samples) in incremental pressure steps; and resulting pressure changes due to absorption or release were measured. The heated, evacuated sample in its sample holder was then cooled again in liquid nitrogen and soaked with hydrogen gas at a pressure increased to 175 bars. After thus soaking in hydrogen for 3 hours, the sample was again heated to 100 degrees C and evacuated of hydrogen. This cooling-soaking and heating-evacuation cycle was repeated a third time during which more than 2 bars hydrogen pressure release from the thus-activated Ti1.1CrMn sample was obtained during heating. The activated Ti1.1CrMn material was subjected to hydrogen absorption and desorption at - 5 degrees C to determine a pressure-composition isotherm at that temperature. At - 5 degrees C, the sorption capacity of the activated Ti1.1CrMn alloy was 1.9 wt.% compared to a near zero value for the non-activated Ti1.1CrMn material. The sorption kinetics of the activated Ti1.1CrMn exhibited fast kinetics with full absorption and desorption within 300 and 100 seconds, respectively, exceeding the United States Department of Energy promulgated minimum requirements for vehicle refueling times.