The Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Mesoporous Carbon Spheres for Hydrogen Storage

Abstract

The nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon spheres have been synthesized via soft-template and hydrothermal synthetic strategies using phenol/formaldehyde resins as carbon sources and melamine as a nitrogen source. The obtained carbon spheres exhibit a spherical morphology with a size range of 3-5 μm, which possess the narrow microporosity (ca. 1.2 nm) and mesoporosity (ca. 4 nm), large surface area (560-1200 m 2 g -1 ) and high nitrogen contents (up to 15.7 wt%). Due to the well-developed porous structure and high nitrogen content, the carbon spheres show high performance for hydrogen storage, and the hydrogen adsorption capacities are in the range of 140-185 cm 3 g -1 , which is better than that of most activated carbons. The incorporation of nitrogen into carbons is favored for hydrogen uptake in low pressure.