Abstract
Palladium-modified activated carbon fibers (Pd-ACF) are being evaluated for adsorptive hydrogen storage at near-ambient conditions because of their enhanced hydrogen uptake in comparison to Pd-free activated carbon fibers (ACF). The net uptake enhancement (at room temperature and 20 bar) is in excess of the amount corresponding to formation of Pd hydride, and is usually attributed to hydrogen spillover. In this paper, inelastic neutron scattering was used to demonstrate the formation of new C-H bonds in Pd-containing activated carbon fibers after exposure to hydrogen at 20 oC and 1.6 MPa, at the expense of physisorbed H2. This finding is a post-factum proof of the atomic nature of H species formed in presence of a Pd catalyst, and of their subsequent spillover and binding to the carbon support. Chemisorption of hydrogen may explain the reduction in hydrogen uptake from first to second adsorption cycle.
