Enhanced electrochemical hydrogen storage capacity of activated mesoporous carbon materials containing nickel inclusions

Electrochemical properties of activated ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) containing nickel inclusions are investigated using cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge/discharge techniques. The hard-template-route prepared OMC is of structurally well-ordered two-dimensional hexagonal structure with a high specific surface area of 1896.95 cm2 g−1, a pore volume of 1.781 cm3 g−1 and a pore size of 5.1 nm, respectively. It is shown that OMC/0.3Ni electrode displays the highest specific capacitance of 186.1 Fg−1, almost 1.4 times higher than that of pure OMC electrode. The hydrogen storage capacity of pure OMC electrode is 87 mAh g−1 and there exists no discharge platform. With the amount of nickel addition increasing, there appears a relatively stable discharge platform, and the discharge capacity reaches a maximum of 170 mAh g−1 as the molar ratio of Ni:OMC is 0.3, almost two times higher than that of pure OMC electrode. The electrochemical properties of OMC can be greatly improved with incorporation of nickel powders. The Ni activated OMC electrodes display a high capacity retainability with strong resistance against oxidation and corrosion.