Characterization of an activated carbon electrode made from coconut shell precursor for hydrogen storage applications.

Electrochemical hydrogen storage is considered as the safest mode compared to the other storage forms, which is why it has attracted a significant research attention in the past decade. Carbon-based porous mediums offer many benefits that favor hydrogen adsorption in it. The presented work investigates the feasibility of coconut shell derived activated carbon for hydrogen adsorption by ascertaining its physical and chemical characteristics. The procedure employed for characterization is disclosed. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area, average crystalline size of the activated carbon was found to be 51.7 m2/g and average crystalline size using X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) to be 10.69nm, respectively, which is comparable with the published data in literature. The scanning electron microscopy illustration of the field emission revealed the presence of well-developed pores on the surface of the sample activated carbon. The Fourier Transform Infrared Analysis (FTIR) spectrum was employed to determine the existence of essential functional groups. The ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–V) is used to confirm the presence of π- π* transition within the activated carbon. Working in the similar direction, the presented work is an experimental investigation on ionic hydrogen storage in an activated carbon electrode integrated in a modified reversible polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEMFC) for transport applications that is carried out. The ingress and egress of hydrogen within the developed PEMFC of 6.25 cm2 active area successfully stored 559.65mAh/g during charging and give out 510.51 mAh/g while discharging. The result analysis revealed the feasibility of the coconut shell based activated carbon to be a suitable candidate for hydrogen storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]