Hydrogen Storage in Graphite Nanofibres

At Northeastern University, Boston, a storage concept for hydrogen is presently under development which shall outpace all existing storage systems. Hydrogen settles in several layers on graphite fibers with diameters of 5 to 10 nm and lengths of 5-100 µm. The mechanism is not yet completely understood, but it is assumed that both, absoprtion and adsorption occurs. The charging of the storage is executed under a pressure of 13.6 MPa and in a period of 4 h to 24 h. The storage pressure is said to be 4-5 MPa. Above a storage pressure of about 3 MPa the storage can maintain the charged hydrogen at room temperature. The maximum hydrogen storage capacity of the system reaches, depending on the type of graphite material used, up to 75% of the carbon weight. When the pressure is reduced, up to 95% of the adsorbed hydrogen can be set free. A vehicle tank with a volume of about 25 l and with a mass of around 87 kg shall permit a fuel cell driven 4 seat passenger car to cover a distance of up to 8,000 km.