Activated carbon: A potential applicant for solid-state hydrogen storage

• Published in: Activated Carbon: Synthesis, Properties and Uses
• Main Author: Oberoi A.S.; Singh B.; Remeli M.F.; Singh N.
• Format: Book chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Nova Science Publishers, Inc. 2017
• Online Access: https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85035060345&partnerID=40&md5=229a2cbefcea6672f3684604da0d3832

Beside commonly known applications of activated carbon in numerous fields, it has attracted considerable amount of research attention as a medium for solid-state hydrogen storage (also known as electrochemical hydrogen storage). Hydrogen in solid-state could be stored either by physical adsorption (or physisorption) or by forming chemical bonds (or chemisorption). Activated carbon offers large internal pore surface area and high porosity that favors both physisorption and chemisorption. Other advantages of using activated carbon for electrochemical hydrogen storage are different pore sizes - macropores, mesopores, micropores and ultramicropores, low atomic weight and easy availability. The present chapter reports on experimental investigation on different grades of activated carbons, made from coal, for their electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity. The fabrication process of activated carbon-based solid electrodes is explained. The steps involved in testing of the fabricated electrodes for their electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity are given. The obtained hydrogen storage capacity of certain activated carbon electrodes is found to be above 1 wt% which is comparable with commercially available metal hydride-based hydrogen storage canisters, lithium-ion and lithium polymer batteries. The results pave a way forward towards commercializing activated carbon-based hydrogen storage electrodes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell or PEMFC, and battery applications. © 2017 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.