Greek researchers say they have designed a new material that almost meets the U.S. Department of Energy 2010 goals for hydrogen storage and could help eliminate a key roadblock to practical hydrogen-powered vehicles.Their study on a way of safely storing hydrogen, an explosive gas, appeared in Wednesday's issue of American Chemical Society's monthly Journal Nano Letters.
Georgios K. Dimitrakakis, Emmanuel Tylianakis and George E. Froudakis wrote that scientists hope to use carbon nanotubes -- tiny cylinders of carbon -- as miniature storage tanks for hydrogen in the next generation of fuel cell vehicles.
In the new study, the researchers used computer modeling to design a unique hydrogen-storage structure consisting of parallel graphene sheets -- layers of carbon just one atom thick -- stabilized by vertical columns of carbon cylinders. They also added lithium ions to the material's design to enhance its storage capacity.
The scientists' calculations showed that their so-called "pillared graphene" could theoretically store up to 41 grams of hydrogen per liter, almost matching the Energy Department's target of 45 grams of hydrogen per liter for transportation applications.
But, the researchers noted, "experimentalists are challenged to fabricate this material and validate its storage capacity."
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