Data-Driven Design of Carbon Materials for Hydrogen Storage

In the transport sector, decarbonization is mainly done by converting combustion vehicles to battery electric vehicles. However, the low gravimetric energy capacity and long recharging times of batteries necessitate another solution for heavy duty transport. Hydrogen can fulfill this role due to its high energy density and quick refueling capability. One remaining issue is its storage: hydrogen has a low volumetric density. Thus, it needs to be either compressed to 70 MPa or liquefied to be stored on-board. Unfortunately, these solutions still suffer from low efficiency and high costs.

I study an alternative method of hydrogen storage: densifying hydrogen by adsorbing it onto high surface area carbons. This method is cheaper than 70 MPa compression, and it loses less energy than liquefaction. To further improve the materials used, I use data science techniques to clearly quantify the processing-structure-property relationships affecting the hydrogen uptake performance of high surface area carbon materials.