Fabrication Procedures and Material Properties of Activated Carbon for Hydrogen and Methane Storage*

The Alliance for Collaborative Research in Alternative Fuel Technology (http://all-craft.missouri.edu) has developed nanoporous biocarbons with interesting pore characteristics. These carbons are being optimized for hydrogen and methane vehicular storage. Our current best performer stores 73-91 g H$_{2}$/kg carbon at 77 K and 47 bar, and 1.0-1.6 g H$_{2}$/kg carbon at 293 K and 47 bar. The validity of using methane storage as a predictor for hydrogen storage will be presented. Recent carbons have achieved porosities as high as of 0.8 and BET surface areas of 3,500 m$^{2}$/g. Optimal pore sizes and volumes will be presented for hydrogen storage nanoporous carbon.