We investigated the minimum energy pathways and energy barriers of reversible reaction (V-111 + H-2 <-> V-221) based upon calculations using density functional theory. We find a comparable activation barrier of around 1.3 eV for both the dissociative chemisorption and desorption processes. The charge transfer rate from a reacting hydrogen atom to the graphene is around 0.18 e per hydrogen atom in the final state. A subsequent reaction path to recover the initial structure of V-111 is realized by the migration of hydrogen atoms from V-221 onto the graphene surface. The comparable energy barrier of 1.3 eV for both adsorption and desorption suggests that this novel storage and release concept has the potential to act as a hydrogen storage system for certain applications. (C) 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.