Hydrogen adsorption on modified activated carbon

The aim of this work is to investigate hydrogen adsorption on prepared super activated carbon (AC). Litchi trunk was activated by potassium hydroxide under N2 or CO2 atmosphere. Nanoparticles of palladium were impregnated in the prepared-AC. Hydrogen adsorption was accurately measured by a volumetric adsorption apparatus at 77, 87, 90 and 303 K, up to 5 MPa. Experimental results revealed that specific surface area of the prepared-AC increased according to KOH/char ratio. The maximum specific surface area reached up to 3400 m2/g and total pore volume of 1.79 cm3/g. The maximum hydrogen adsorption capacity of 2.89 wt.% at 77 K and under 0.1 MPa, was obtained on these materials. The hydrogen adsorption capacity of the 10 wt.% Pd-AC was determined as 0.53 wt.% at 303 K and under 6 MPa. This amount is higher than that on the pristine AC (0.41 wt.%) under the same conditions.