Synthesis of high surface area silica gel templated carbon for hydrogen storage application

In this study silica gel templated carbons were synthesized by pyrolysis using furfuryl alcohol as carbon precursor. Effects of temperatures (650, 750 and 850 degrees C) and dwelling times (1, 2, 3 and 4h) on physical properties of templated carbons were investigated. The synthesized templated carbons were studied for hydrogen uptake at atmospheric pressure and subzero temperatures (-50 and -100 degrees C). The surface area and pore structure of the templated carbons varied significantly with synthesis parameters. Templated carbon with highest surface area (1975 m(2)/g) and pore volume (3.07 ml/g) was obtained at pyrolysis temperature of 650 degrees C and 3 h dwelling time. For all synthesized carbons, 90-95% of the pores were in the range of 2-20 nm and 38-67% of the pores were in the range of 2-6 nm. Highest hydrogen uptake of 0.16 wt.% was observed at adsorption temperature of -100 degrees C for templated carbon synthesized at 650 degrees C and dwelling time of 3 h. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.