Materials for Hydrogen Storage and Synthesis of New Materials by Hydrogenation

The search for new materials for hydrogen storage is important for the development of future hydrogen energy applications. In this Thesis, it is shown that new materials with interesting properties can be synthesized by the reaction of hydrogen with various nanocarbon precursors. The thesis consists of two parts. The first part is devoted to studies of hydrogen storage in some metalorganic frameworks (MOFs) and nanostructured carbon materials, while the second part describes synthesis of new materials by the reaction of hydrogen gas with various carbon materials (i.e. fullerene C60, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), and fullerene C60 encapsulated inside SWCNTs (C60@SWCNTs)). Hydrogen adsorption was measured for a set of Znand Co-based MOFs at near ambient temperatures. MOFs synthesized using different metal clusters and organic connecting ligands allowed to study effects of different surface area, pore volume, and pore shapes on hydrogen storage parameters. Hydrogen adsorption values in the studied MOFs correlated well with surface area and pore volume but did not exceed 0,75wt.%. Therefore, new methods to improve the hydrogen storage capacity in MOFs were investigated. The addition of metal catalysts was previously reported to improve significantly hydrogen storage in MOFs. In this thesis the effect of Pt catalyst addition on hydrogen adsorption in MOF-5 was not confirmed. Contrary to previous reports, hydrogen adsorption in MOF-5 mixed/modified with Pt catalysts had fast kinetics, correlated well with surface area, and was on the same level as for unmodified MOF-5. New nanostructured carbon materials were synthesized by the reaction between fullerene C60 and coronene/anthracene. Despite negligible surface area these materials adsorbed up to 0,45wt.% of hydrogen at ambient temperatures. The reaction of fullerene C60 with hydrogen gas was studied at elevated temperatures and hydrogen pressures. In situ gravimetric monitoring of the reaction was performed in a broad temperature interval with/without addition of metal catalysts (i.e. Pt and Ni). The reaction resulted in synthesis of hydrogenated fullerenes C60Hx (with x≤56) followed by fullerene cage fragmentation and collapse upon prolonged duration of hydrogen treatment. Possible mechanisms of C60 hydrogenation and fragmentation were discussed. It is demonstrated that reaction of SWCNTs with hydrogen gas at elevated temperatures and hydrogen pressures can be used for nanotube opening, purification from amorphous carbon, side-wall hydrogenation, and partial unzipping of SWCNTs. Some graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) were synthesized as the result of SWCNTs unzipping. A surprising ability of hydrogen to penetrate inside SWNTs and to react with encapsulated fullerene C60 was demonstrated.