Assessment of hydrogen storage by physisorption in porous materials

Abstract

As a basis for the evaluation of hydrogen storage by physisorption, adsorption isotherms of H₂ were experimentally determined for several porous materials at 77 K and 298 K at pressures up to 15 MPa. Activated carbons and MOFs were studied as the most promising materials for this purpose. A noble focus was given on how to determine whether a material is feasible for hydrogen storage or not, dealing with an assessment method and the pitfalls and problems of determining the viability. For a quantitative evaluation of the feasibility of sorptive hydrogen storage in a general analysis, it is suggested to compare the stored amount in a theoretical tank filled with adsorbents to the amount of hydrogen stored in the same tank without adsorbents. According to our results, an “ideal” sorbent for hydrogen storage at 77 K is calculated to exhibit a specific surface area of >2580 m² g⁻¹ and a micropore volume of >1.58 cm³ g⁻¹.