Storage of hydrogen as a guest of a nanoporous polymeric crystalline phase

A mechanism of H-2 uptake, based on adsorption in the ordered cavities of nanoporous polymeric crystalline phases rather than on disordered amorphous polymeric surfaces, has been clearly established, for aerogels of syndiotactic polystyrene (s-PS) exhibiting the nanoporous delta phase. An ordered arrangement of the H-2 molecules is proven by FTIR spectra while the inclusion of H-2 is assessed by gravimetric measurements and molecular simulations.