Nanostructures with high surface area for hydrogen storage

The hydrogen adsorption in nanostructures with high specific surface area (SSA) has been determined at room temperature (RT) and 77 K utilizing a Sieverts’-type apparatus. Various carbon nanostructures possessing different SSA and structures showed a linear dependence between the storage capacity and the SSA. However, the uptake seems to be independent of the structure or long-range order of the materials. The maximum storage capacity of 4.5 wt.%, was obtained at 77 K for activated carbon with a BET surface area of 2560 m2/g. In addition the metal-organic framework MOF-5 was synthesized. These samples with a BET SSA of 576 m2/g showed a storage capacity of 0.2 and 1.6 wt.% at RT and 77 K, respectively.