Beyond carbon nanostructures

The storage of hydrogen as an atom in carbon nanostructures and MOFs has been proposed as a mechanism to enhance the storage density of carbon-based and MOF nanostructures. This approach uses a supported metallic catalyst to dissociate the hydrogen molecule. The hydrogen atoms then diffuse 

We wish to thank NSERC, Natural resources Canada, the government of Quebec and the Auto 21 network of Centres of Excellence for their support. 

Michel, H. Fieseler, and L. Allidieres, Liquid hydrogen technologies for mobile use, Proceedings ofWHEC 16, June 13-16, Lyon, France (2006). 

Gilbert, J.L. Alleman, K.M. Jones, and S.B. Zhang, DOE Annual Merit Reviews Meeting, May 23-26, 2005, Arhngton, Virginia. 

Yakobson and R. Hauge, Theoretical models of H2-SWNT systems for hydrogen storage and optimization of SWNT, DOE Annual Merit Reviews Meeting, May ISIS, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. 

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Increasing the operating temperature of a physisorption storage system will require going beyond current carbon and MOF nanostructures. A possible strategy is to enhance the sorption capacity of carbon nanostructures by doping them with certain metals, which... 

The synthesis of nanostructured carbon using aliphatic alcohols as selfassembling molecules has demonstrated that this strategy can be extended beyond metal oxide-based materials [38]. Recently, we have reported the synthesis of a novel carbon material with tunable porosity by using a liquid-crystalline precursor containing a surfactant and a carbon-yielding chemical, furfuryl alcohol. The carbonization of the cured self-assembled carbon precursor produces a new carbon material with both controlled porosity and electrical conductivity. The unique combination of both features is advantageous for many relevant applications. For example, when tested as a supercapacitor electrode, specific capacitances over 120 F/g were obtained without the need to use binders, additives, or activation to increase surface area [38]. The proposed synthesis method is versatile and economically attractive, and allows for the precise control of the structure. 

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