Melaleuca bark based porous carbons for hydrogen storage

• The porous carbon with highest surface area of 3170 m2 g−1 was prepared from melaleuca bark.
• The micropore volume and small mesopore volume (V2–3 nm value) were more important than other parameters for H2 uptakes at 77 K.
• The resultant carbon with high surface area showed H2 uptake exceeding 4 wt% at 77 K, 10 bar.
• The desorption isotherm and cycle life test of H2 uptake indicated that it was a totally reversible physical sorption.

Typical porous carbons were obtained from waster biomass, melaleuca bark activated by potassium hydroxide (KOH), and characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, FTIR, XPS and N2-sorption. The different samples with tunable morphologies and texture were prepared by controlling synthesis reaction parameters. The resulting samples demonstrate both high surface area (up to 3170 m2 g−1) and large hydrogen storage capacity (4.08 wt% at 77 K and 10 bar), implying their great potential as hydrogen storage materials.