The role of the modulated intrinsic electromagnetic field characteristics inside the carbon nanopores on molecular hydrogen densification

Abstract

While the anomalous phenomenon of H2 densification in sub-1 nm carbon nanopores have attracted the attention of many researchers, there have been few in-depth studies on the fundamentals. Recently, we discovered that significant intrinsic electromagnetic fields (IEMFs) inside carbon nanopores with diameters below 1 nm are modulated with the difference in morphology, and it seems to be linked to the anomalous phenomenon. As a follow-up study, we find that the IEMFs inside carbon nanopores can be modulated by tuning pore diameter or atomic composition. Moreover, it is suggested that these modulations are highly correlated to the degree of molecular hydrogen densification. Particularly, given the widely accepted fact that the H2 densification is possible in only sub-1 nm nanopore, it is notable that the nanopores larger than 1 nm may play a substantial role in H2 densification by controlling atomic composition. This paper carefully suggests that this concept can be applied to the field of hydrogen storage materials so that the development of H2 storage materials with high performance may be achievable.