Development of polymer nanocomposites for hydrogen storage

• Grant number: 13/23586-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): October 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Antonio Pessan
• Grantee: Amanda Dantas de Oliveira
• Home Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The use of hydrogen as an energy carrier suitable to replace gasoline and other fossil fuels has been widely discussed as a way to sustainably fuel our civilization. However, hydrogen storage is a major barrier in the establishment of infrastructure for hydrogen technology. Several materials including carbon nanotubes, microporous materials, metal-organic frameworks, metal hydrides and zeolites are promising materials for use in hydrogen storage. The incorporation of nanoparticles or nanoporous structures in polymeric materials may be an alternative to obtain materials with promising properties for hydrogen storage. Thus, the development of materials for hydrogen storage from polymer nanocomposites with lower temperature of desorption may contribute to the consolidation of the use of hydrogen as a clean and sustainable energy. This research project aims at the development of polymer nanocomposites with different polymer matrices, concentrations and types of nanoparticles. The polypyrrole and polyetherimide will be used as polymer matrix to develop systems with the addition of various particles and nanoparticles, such as sodium alanate (NaAlH4) doped with nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, carbon nanotubes doped NaAlH4 and zeólite doped with nanosized aluminium powder. For all the systems prepared it will be studied the influence of the addition of nanoparticles on the morphology and thermal properties and on the storage capacity and desorption of hydrogen will be correlated. (AU)