Multiply Surface-Functionalized Nanoporous Carbon for Vehicular Hydrogen Storage
- Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States). Dept. of Physics
The purpose of the project “Multiply Surface-Functionalized Nanoporous Carbon for Vehicular Hydrogen Storage” is the development of materials that store hydrogen (H2) by adsorption in quantities and at conditions that outperform current compressed-gas H2 storage systems for electric power generation from hydrogen fuel cells (HFCs). Prominent areas of interest for HFCs are light-duty vehicles (“hydrogen cars”) and replacement of batteries with HFC systems in a wide spectrum of applications, ranging from forklifts to unmanned areal vehicles to portable power sources. State-of-the-art compressed H2 tanks operate at pressures between 350 and 700 bar at ambient temperature and store 3-4 percent of H2 by weight (wt%) and less than 25 grams of H2 per liter (g/L) of tank volume. Thus, the purpose of the project is to engineer adsorbents that achieve storage capacities better than compressed H2 at pressures less than 350 bar. Adsorption holds H2 molecules as a high-density film on the surface of a solid at low pressure, by virtue of attractive surface-gas interactions. At a given pressure, the density of the adsorbed film is the higher the stronger the binding of the molecules to the surface is (high binding energies). Thus, critical for high storage capacities are high surface areas, high binding energies, and low void fractions (high void fractions, such as in interstitial space between adsorbent particles, “waste” storage volume by holding hydrogen as non-adsorbed gas). Coexistence of high surface area and low void fraction makes the ideal adsorbent a nanoporous monolith, with pores wide enough to hold high-density hydrogen films, narrow enough to minimize storage as non-adsorbed gas, and thin walls between pores to minimize the volume occupied by solid instead of hydrogen. A monolith can be machined to fit into a rectangular tank (low pressure, conformable tank), cylindrical tank (high pressure), or other tank shape without any waste of volume.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG36-08GO18142
- OSTI ID:
- 1344383
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-MU-11111-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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