Influence of compressive strain on the hydrogen storage capabilities of graphene: a density functional theory study

Pristine graphene is not suitable for hydrogen storage at ambient conditions since it binds the hydrogen molecules only by van der Waals interactions. However, the adsorption energy of the hydrogen molecules can be improved by doping or decorating metal atoms on the graphene monolayer. The doping and decoration processes are challenging due to the oxygen interference in hydrogen adsorption and the clustering issue of metal atoms. To improve the hydrogen adsorption energy in pristine graphene, we have explored the hydrogen storage capabilities of graphene monolayer in the presence of compressive strain. We found that at 6 % of biaxial compressive strain, a 4*4*1 supercell of graphene can adsorb 10 H$_2$ molecules above the graphene surface. The average binding energy of H$_2$ for this configuration is found to be -0.42 eV/H$_2$, which is very suitable for reversible hydrogen adsorption. We propose that a 4*4*1 supercell of graphene can adsorb a total number of 20 H$_2$ molecules leading to a high hydrogen uptake of 9.4 %. The interaction between orbitals of carbon and hydrogen atoms and the charge transfer process have been studied by plotting the partial density of states and surface charge density plots. The electronic density around the C-C bonds of graphene increases in the presence of compressive strain, due to which hydrogen molecules are strongly adsorbed.