« Renault Shows Hi-Flex Clio FFV in Paris | Main | Mercedes-Benz Premiers New Gasoline Direct Injection System for More Power and Lower Fuel Consumption »
Hydrogen Storage in Organic Polymers
24 February 2006
In another approach to developing a viable on-board storage system for hydrogen in vehicles, researchers in the UK have developed a purely organic polymer with microporous structures that can adsorb hydrogen via physisorption.
Research into using a microporous material for hydrogen storage tends to focus on materials such as zeolites or activated carbons, which have many molecular-size holes suitable for the containment and release of hydrogen.
By contrast, the molecular chains in most organic polymers are so flexible that they can form tightly packed structures. This means there are no cavities inside, and thus no appreciable internal surface onto which substances could be adsorbed.
The chemists constructed polymers from interlinked five- and six-membered rings. At defined points in the molecule, two five-membered rings are connected in such a way as to provide a contorted shape to the stiff macromolecular structures. The contorted molecules cannot pack together efficiently and leave gaps and interstices.
In reproducible synthetic steps, the researchers have produced chemically homogeneous materials—“polymers of intrinsic microporosity”—with a uniform distribution of pore sizes of 0.6–0.7 nm.
These ultrasmall pores can absorb and then release between 1.4 and 1.7% hydrogen by weight at liquid nitrogen temperatures. Depending on the selection of building blocks the researchers can produce insoluble networks or polymers that are soluble in solvents and can thus be processed into useful shapes.
The current rate of storage is far below the DOE target of 6% for 2010 and 9% by 2015.
In order for the PIMs to store enough hydrogen to be useful they must be optimized further by both chemistry and polymer processing techniques. Neil McKeown of Cardiff University, one of the researchers, estimates that by 2010 they will have tailored a PIM capable of storing up to 6% hydrogen.
Resources:
“Towards Polymer-based Hydrogen Storage Materials: Engineering Ultramicroporous Cavities Within Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity”; Neil B. McKeown, Bader Ghanem, Kadhum J. Msayib, Peter M. Budd, Carin E. Tattershall, Khalid Mahmood, Siren Tan, David Book, Henrietta W. Langmi, Allan Walton; Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2006, 45, 1804, doi: 10.1002/anie.200504241
UK Royal Society of Chemistry: Stirring up High Hopes for the Hydrogen Economy
February 24, 2006 in Hydrogen, Vehicle Systems | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/22062/4332273
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Hydrogen Storage in Organic Polymers:
Comments
Ethanol will store 13% by weight of hydrogen. Why worry about polymers, hydrides, or compressing it to 10,000 PSI for that matter?
Posted by: barry j hanson | Feb 24, 2006 12:50:51 PM
Probably because you then have to have an on board reformer to crack the ethanol. Most of the FCV designs have moved away from an onboard reformer, I think, because the efficiency is not good.
Posted by: Tripp | Feb 24, 2006 8:58:06 PM
There are examples of Direct Methanol Fuel Cell(DMFC), no reformer involved, although the energy output is too small to implement on a vehicle but it is still possible. Someday we might a FCV that use pure ethanol as fuel, or even have flex fuel ability.
Yeah, that should be the direction, FCV that uses liquid fuel.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0406/04062401toshibafuel.asp
Posted by: rexis | Feb 26, 2006 5:26:32 PM
send me constructional fetures of this system
Posted by: sachin | Jan 27, 2007 8:51:50 AM
best medical discount
Posted by: meds | May 16, 2008 8:54:31 PM
best medical discount
Posted by: meds | May 16, 2008 8:54:33 PM
best medical discount
Posted by: meds | May 16, 2008 8:54:38 PM
