title: Graphene oxide/metal nanocrystal multilaminates as the atomic limit for safe and selective hydrogen storage.
abstract: Interest in hydrogen fuel is growing for automotive applications; however, safe, dense, solid-state hydrogen storage remains a formidable scientific challenge. Metal hydrides offer ample storage capacity and do not require cryogens or exceedingly high pressures for operation. However, hydrides have largely been abandoned because of oxidative instability and sluggish kinetics. We report a new, environmentally stable hydrogen storage material constructed of Mg nanocrystals encapsulated by atomically thin and gas-selective reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets. This material, protected from oxygen and moisture by the rGO layers, exhibits exceptionally dense hydrogen storage (6.5 wt% and 0.105 kg H2 per litre in the total composite). As rGO is atomically thin, this approach minimizes inactive mass in the composite, while also providing a kinetic enhancement to hydrogen sorption performance. These multilaminates of rGO-Mg are able to deliver exceptionally dense hydrogen storage and provide a material platform for harnessing the attributes of sensitive nanomaterials in demanding environments.
authors.affiliation: The Molecular Foundry, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Eun Seon
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: The Molecular Foundry, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Anne M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ruminski
authors.affiliation: The Molecular Foundry, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Shaul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aloni
authors.affiliation: The Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Yi-Sheng
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: The Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Jinghua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: The Molecular Foundry, Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Urban