Coherent Carbon Cryogel - Hydride Nanocomposite for Efficient H2 Storage

非技术描述：虽然燃料电池技术已经迅速发展到汽车应用中，但为燃料电池提供动力所需的氢气的车载存储还没有。加压氢气储存罐需要非常笨重的容器，液氢必须储存在华氏零下423度(或摄氏零下251度)，这在后勤上非常困难。固态氢存储提供了一种解决方案，因为它基本上不需要压力，在典型的工作温度下是惰性的，并根据需要释放氢气。这项研究将利用纳米技术的进步来提高固态储氢材料的性能--这是发展美国新能源经济亟需的一步。该项目的成功将是实现氢经济的重要一步，并将从根本上更好地理解物质收缩到纳米级时的物理性质和化学行为。这项研究将通过他们的论文研究、教师研讨会、研讨会和出版物，展示、教育和吸引研究生和本科生进入与能源相关的材料和技术领域，并具有环保意识。技术细节：这项研究旨在开发新型纳米复合材料，由高度多孔的化学修饰碳冷冻凝胶填充并与氢化物紧密混合，并可选择性地涂覆多孔催化剂氧化层。极高的比表面积(2000 m2/g)和孔隙率(95%)有利于氢化物与碳网络之间的紧密接触，可能具有催化作用，并促进均匀分散，同时将氢化物捕获在尺寸为1 nm-100 nm的可调孔内。分散在孔内的氢化物的直径将被限制在纳米级，具有较大的比表面积和能量。这种凝聚结构的纳米复合材料有望降低氢化物的分解温度，增强可逆性，改善热导率，从而改善氢气的吸收/释放动力学，同时保持与块状氢化物类似的储氢能力。这项研究将培养学生进行尖端能源相关材料研究，并建立研究生和本科生与国家实验室科学家和工业工程师的密切合作。

NON-TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: While fuel cell technology has rapidly advanced towards application in automobiles, the on-board storage of the hydrogen needed to power a fuel cell has not. Pressurized hydrogen storage tanks would require impractically bulky and heavy vessels and liquid hydrogen must be stored at -423 degrees F (or - 251 degrees C) making it logistically very difficult. Solid state hydrogen storage offers a solution because it requires essentially no pressure, is inert at typical operating temperatures, and releases hydrogen on demand. This research will utilize advancements in nanotechnology to improve the performance of solid state hydrogen storage materials - a much needed step towards development of the new American energy economy. The success of the project will be a significant step toward the realization of a hydrogen economy and will attain a better fundamental understanding of the physical properties and chemical behavior when matter shrinks to the nanometer scale. This research will expose, educate, and attract graduate and undergraduate students to the field of energy related materials and technology and be environmentally conscious through their thesis research, faculty seminars, workshops, and publications.TECHNICAL DETAILS: This research is to develop novel nanocomposites consisting of a highly porous chemically modified carbon cryogel filled and intimately mixed with hydrides and optionally coated with a porous catalyst oxide layer. The extremely high surface area (2000 m2/g) and porosity (95%) of carbon cryogels facilitates an intimate contact between hydrides and the carbon network with possible catalytic effects as well promoting a homogeneous dispersion while trapping hydrides inside the tunable pores which range from 1 nm - 100 nm in size. Dispersed hydrides inside the pores would be confined to nanometers in diameter with a large surface area and energy. Such coherently structured nanocomposites are anticipated to reduce hydride decomposition temperature, enhance reversibility, and improve thermal conductivity and thus hydrogen absorption/desorption kinetics, while retaining hydrogen storage capacity similar to the bulk hydride. This research will train students in cutting-edge energy related materials research and establish a close collaboration of graduate and undergraduate students with national laboratory scientists and industry engineers.