Synthesis of high surface area mesoporous silica SBA-15 for hydrogen storage application

In the present report, mesoporous silica SBA-15 was synthesized by different methods such as room temperature aging, hydrothermal, and sonication-mediated hydrothermal methods. The effect of different time and temperature on the synthesis method was investigated by conventional characterization techniques. The powders synthesized by different methods showed different properties, mainly in morphology and pore volume. In comparison to others, the powder synthesized by the hydrothermal method at 100 degrees C for 48 hours showed exceptionally high surface area of 3274 m(2)/g. To date, as per our knowledge, no such value was reported in literature. Finally, the powders were characterized by H-2 storage capacity by the adsorption-desorption method using 99.999% H-2. The hydrogen adsorption capacity of the same powder was observed at 6.02 wt%. Also, this value seems to be the highest H-2 adsorption capacity in comparison to other powders described in literature.