Clean energies: carbon nanocornets to store hydrogen
Hydrogen would be the ideal candidate to replace fossil fuels, if it were not so difficult to store in good conditions of safety. CNRS researchers offer a storage solution that is both efficient and inexpensive: carbon nanocornets. With these structures, the hydrogen-carbon bond is much more stable than with nanotubes. This study raises the reservations that prevented considering the use of carbon-based nanomaterials for industrial applications.
Hydrogen, the most abundant element in the Universe, is a renewable energy source alternative to fossil fuels. It is not polluting: the only by-product formed during its production is water. However, the difficulty of storing it in a manner that is both safe and economical has so far made its use marginal.
Among the existing storage methods, assembly with metals seems too expensive. Trapping in porous materials, on the other hand, is both efficient (all the adsorbed hydrogen is recoverable) and inexpensive. In addition, the hydrogen loading and release cycles do not require any reactivation or regeneration of the material. Carbon-based nanostructures (nanotubes or nanocornets), because of their low mass and high adsorption capacity, prove to be excellent contenders for porous materials. However, carbon nanotubes have a major drawback: their storage is only possible at extremely low temperatures (below -196oC), due to the weak interaction between hydrogen and carbon, which limits applications commercial. The future possibility of storing hydrogen inside porous carbon-based materials, as part of a clean energy project, therefore depends closely on the strength of the interaction between hydrogen and carbon. , and the ability to increase this force.
Read more: http://www2.cnrs.fr/presse/communique/1116.htm
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