Abstract
Carbon-based materials, due to their low cost and weight, have long been considered as suitable physisorption substrates for the reversible storage of hydrogen. Nanoporous carbons can be engineered to achieve exceptional storage capacities: gravimetric excess adsorption of 0.073 ± 0.003 kgH2/kg carbon, gravimetric storage capacity of 0.106 ± 0.005 kgH2/kg carbon, and volumetric storage capacity of 0.040 ± 0.002 kgH2/liter carbon, at 80 K and 50 bar. The nanopores generage high storage capacity by having a very high surface are, by generating a high H2-wall interaction potential, and by allowing multi-layer adsorption of H2 (at cryogenic temperatures). In this paper we show how the experimental adsorption isotherms can be understood from basic theoretical considerations and computational simulations of the adsorption in a bimodal distribution of narrow and wide pore spaces. We also analyze the possibility of multi-layer adsorption, and the effects of hypothetical larger adsorption energies. Finally, we present the results of coupled ab initio calculations and Monte Carlo simulations showing that partial substitution of carbon atoms in nanoporous matrix with boron results in significant increases of the adsorption energy and storage capacity.