Carbon-based materials have received a lot of attention these days due to their potential for high-density energy storage. Graphite has long been used for the anode materials of Li-ion batteries and various organic or inorganic carbon-based materials have also attracted special interest for the molecular hydrogen storage. In both cases, the materials have a large surface area to attach Li-ions or hydrogen molecules on them. In this presentation, after some general introduction to carbon-based materials, we will focus on the storage materials of molecular hydrogen.
Safe and efficient storage of hydrogen is essential to the development of hydrogen fuel-cell powered vehicles. In a consortium including both theory and experiment groups in universities and industries, we perform research and development to achieve high-capacity molecular hydrogen storage in carbon-based materials that can be installed on-board vehicles and operated under ambient conditions. Strategies to suppress metal clustering and oxidation are presented and practical questions in material synthesis are discussed.