Synthesis and characterisation of nanoporous carbon–metal composites for hydrogen storage

Metal–carbon composites have nowadays received much attention as potential hydrogen stores, since nanosized metal particles seem to catalytically enhance hydrogen sorption at room temperature. In the present work a series of ordered mesoporous carbon materials of CMK-3 type are modified, either by heat treatment or mild oxidation in order to induce varying amounts of oxygen surface functionalities, and doped with Pd nanoparticles in an attempt to elucidate the associated hydrogen storage process. Although the measured hydrogen storage capacities are far below the desirable targets for practical applications, the obtained results demonstrate clearly the synergy between the carbon support and the dispersed metal nanoparticles towards a significant enhancement of hydrogen adsorption.

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► Synthesis of Pd-doped CMK-3 carbons with different degrees of surface oxidation.
► Synergistic effect of Pd and carbon leads to enhanced hydrogen storage at room temperature.
► Surface oxygen functionalities seem to assist the so called hydrogen spillover.