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.