(338a) Hierarchically Structured Nanomaterials for High Density Gas Storage and Compression

The need for safe, transportable, and dense gas storage is growing, especially in the hydrogen and oxygen markets. A fabrication method for hierarchically structured nanomaterials and their use as gas storage vessels is currently being developed at Mainstream Engineering. The nanomaterials are formed by self-assembly and sealed to maintain high pressure with a material that also acts as controllable and reversible pump. Based on hydrostatic loading we have demonstrated that hydrogen can be stored at densities exceeding 0.12 kg H₂/kg material and 0.60 kg H₂/L material. Similarly, oxygen can be stored at 0.60 kg/kg and 1.08 kg/L. We predict that the volumetric and gravimetric storage density can exceed DoE’s 2015 targets for hydrogen by 65% and 98%, respectively and with a safety factor of 4. These materials exceed the storage capacity of current technologies for other gasses as well.  We will discuss the current development effort as well as the technological road map to prototype demonstration. In addition we will discuss the fundamentals of the gas storage, sealing and reversible pumping mechanism.