Synthesis and hydrogen storage capacity of exfoliated turbostratic carbon nanofibers

Turbostratic carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with a rough surface, open pore walls, and a defect structure were continuously produced by the thermal decomposition of alcohol in the presence of an iron catalyst and a sulfur promoter at 1100 degrees C under a nitrogen atmosphere in a vertical chemical vapor deposition reactor. A graphite exfoliation technique using intercalation and thermal shock was employed to expand the graphene layers of the as-produced turbostratic CNFs. The hydrogen storage capacity of the turbostratic CNF samples was measured using the volumetric method with a pressure of up to 1 MPa at 77 K. The hydrogen storage capacities of the as-produced and exfoliated turbostratic CNFs were 1.5 and 5 wt%, respectively. The defects on the surface and expandable graphitic structure are considered important keys to increasing the hydrogen uptake in turbostratic CNFs. (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.