Synthesis of templated carbon from nanoclay and its zeolitic derivatives for hydrogen storage applications

Abstract

Of the many available options for hydrogen storage, carbonaceous materials are gaining increasing attention. In particular, templated carbons have attracted research interest because of the ability to control their pore structure properties with ease. In this study, nanoclay and its recrystallized zeolitic derivatives were used as templating agent for carbon nanostructured materials. The as-received nanoclay and its zeolite X and hydroxysodalite derivatives were initially impregnated with furfural alcohol and later taken through the chemical vapour deposition process using ethylene gas as the gaseous carbon source to completely fill up the pores. Hydrofluoric and nitric acids were used to remove the template and the resulting carbonaceous materials were thoroughly characterized using XRD, SEM, TGA, TEM, N2-BET and also tested for hydrogen storage capacity. The resulting templated carbons were found to be highly ordered and had mimicked the crystal morphology of the templating materials. The samples also exhibited highly improved hydrogen storage capacity.