| Abstract
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A series of nanostructured activated carbons have been synthesized from poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK), and its derivatives. These carbons, with surface area exceeding 3000 m2/g and with average pore diameters of ≤ 20 Å, are proven to be superior hydrogen storage materials, with hydrogen storage capacities up to 5.5 wt% at 77 K and 45 atm. The porous texture of these carbons was controlled via optimizing three synthetic steps: thermo-oxidation of PEEK in air, pyrolysis or carbonization of the oxidized PEEK in an inert atmosphere, and activation of the pre-carbonized PEEK with metal hydroxide. Thermo-oxidation of PEEK and carbonization process were thoroughly studied. These processes have been investigated by MDSC, FTIR, TGA and Py-MS. The pyrolysis or carbonization of PEEK involves the degradation of PEEK chains in three stages. Carbon morphology, including crystallinity and porous texture, is readily controlled by adjusting carbonization temperature. Activation of PEEK carbons, using inorganic bases and other activation agents, produces microporous carbons having a very narrow pore size distribution and an average pore diameter of ≤ 20 Å. The activation control parameters including activation agent, activation temperature, time and carbon morphology have been investigated extensively. High surface area activated carbon is obtained by activating a highly amorphous carbon with a high activation agent/carbon ratio at 800°C. Theoretical calculations show that the pores with smaller diameter, especially smaller than 7 Å, favor hydrogen adsorption. The experimental results confirm this fact and show that: (1) the hydrogen adsorption capacity per unit surface area at 77 K and 1 bar is larger in the smaller pores, (2) gravimetric hydrogen storage capacity (W(H2)) is directly proportional to the ultramicropore (< 7 Å) volume; and (3) the volumetric hydrogen storage capacity is directly proportional to the volume fraction of ultramicropores in carbon. Hydrogen adsorption in activated carbons synthesized from PEEK and poly(ether imide) blends, poly(phenylene oxide), polybenzimidazole and lignin show similar trends. In addition, W( H2) progressively increases as surface area increases for the carbons with similar average pore diameters. Keywords. carbon, activated carbon, poly(ether ether ketone), poly(ether imide), poly(phenylene oxide), polybenzimidazole, lignin, gas adsorption, hydrogen storage
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