Hydrogen storage in new nanostructured carbon materials

Hydrogen is a clean and renewable energy carrier. Because conventional materials and technologies for hydrogen storage cannot meet the needs of fuelcellpowered automobiles, how to store hydrogen more efficiently to reach the DOE target has become one of the most urgent and difficult problems to be solved in hydrogen applications. In recent years, storing hydrogen with various nanostructured carbon materials has attracted worldwide interest. However, there has been a great deal of controversy and divergent viewpoints. In this paper, hydrogen storage in various nanostructured carbon materials including singlewall nanotubes, multiwall nanotubes, graphite nanofibers and carbon nanofibers was reviewed. Some questions to be answered were pointed out, which include the standardization of the measuring method for hydrogen storage, characteristics of nanostructured carbon materials with high hydrogen storage capacity, the adsorption mechanism of hydrogen, etc.