Issue 45, 2017, Issue in Progress

Graphene entanglement in a mesoporous resorcinol–formaldehyde matrix applied to the nanoconfinement of LiBH4 for hydrogen storage

Abstract

A new, easy and versatile method for graphene inclusion within resorcinol–formaldehyde is presented and applied to the nanoconfinement of LiBH4. After the initial formation of a graphene hydrogel, the resin precursors were allowed to diffuse through the aqueous phase at room temperature. Depending on the precursor's concentration, after curing and pyrolysis, the materials presented a specific area of about 600 m2 g−1, with a pore size as low as 6.1 nm without macropores, and pore volume as high as 1.53 cm3 g−1. Once filled with LiBH4 by melt-infiltration, the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of these materials was typical of nanoconfined hydrides, with broader, flatter and lower transition, melting and decomposition temperatures. Hydrogen release was confirmed for temperatures as low as 253 °C in the presence of graphene, with a total hydrogen release of 13 wt% at 400 °C, close to the expected theoretical value. The absence of diborane formation was confirmed by IR and is a good indication of these materials' reversibility. After rehydrogenation at 400 °C for 5 h under 60 bar H2, the hydrogen release was close to 6 wt%. Microscopic observations and pore-size analysis indicated that the presence of graphene could be beneficial to the pore filling.

Graphical abstract: Graphene entanglement in a mesoporous resorcinol–formaldehyde matrix applied to the nanoconfinement of LiBH4 for hydrogen storage

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
23 Feb 2017
Accepted
13 May 2017
First published
26 May 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 27905-27912

Graphene entanglement in a mesoporous resorcinol–formaldehyde matrix applied to the nanoconfinement of LiBH4 for hydrogen storage

A. Gasnier and F. C. Gennari, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 27905 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA02288C

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