Determination of hydrogen storage capacity of activated carbon production from forest industry shells

The increase in the world population, the increase in urbanization and industrialization and technological developments increase the demand for energy rapidly. This demand for energy has brought with it the need to store energy. In order to store energy, different methods are being studied with various products. In this study, two different tree species (pine and beech) from various regions of Kastamonu Province were used as raw materials to store hydrogen. Nitric acid and Lithium hydroxide were used as activating agents and their surface areas were compared by obtaining activated carbon at different temperatures. Hydrogen storage capacities were compared among the species with the most surface area. Chemical activation was carried out by activating pine bark and beech bark with HNO₃ and LiOH. Produced activated carbons were characterized using fourier transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). It has been observed from SEM measurements that the activated carbons produced in the laboratory have a porous structure, from the BET measurements the surface area of the activated carbons increased with different concentrations, and from the FTIR-ATR measurements, the activated carbons produced in the FTIR-ATR measurements formed a whole with the combination of carbon atoms. Hydrogen storage capacities of the produced activated carbon samples were determined at 77 K and 298 K with Hiden brand IMI PSI device. As a result of the measurements, it has been determined that the hydrogen storage capacity of activated carbons is higher at cryonegic temperatures. Activated carbons produced with LiOH were found to have higher hydrogen storage capacity than activated carbons produced with HNO₃ in both types of bark.