Catalysts and in a larger meaning reaction promoters, are becoming a key partner of metal hydrides and compounds in hydrogen storing systems, largely influencing its kinetics and synthesis process. High-throughput screening techniques provide a unique solution to study in a short period of time the properties and potentialities of large amounts of metal alloys/catalysts combinations for the development of large capacity hydrogen storing hydrides. In this work, we present preliminary results using the infrared thermography technique as a cheap and simple combinatorial screening tool for compositional effect studies. Hydrogen sorption of combinatorial magnesium-based (MgAl and MgFeCu) libraries, synthesized using vapor phase growth techniques, have been characterized using the infrared imaging and effects of adding Al, Cu and Fe are discussed and compared with literature data. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.