Gas storage materials, including hydrogen storage materials
AssigneesToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc., Toyota Motor Corporation, Savannah River National Laboratory
InventorsRana F. Mohtadi, George G. Wicks, Leung K. Heung, Kenji Nakamura
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A material for the storage and release of gases comprises a plurality of hollow elements, each hollow element comprising a porous wall enclosing an interior cavity, the interior cavity including structures of a solid-state storage material. In particular examples, the storage material is a hydrogen storage material such as a solid state hydride. An improved method for forming such materials includes the solution diffusion of a storage material solution through a porous wall of a hollow element into an interior cavity.
Claims24
A material allowing the storage and release of a gas, the material comprising:
- a plurality of hollow elements, each hollow element having a porous wall surrounding an interior cavity, the porous wall having an interior surface facing the interior cavity,
- the interior cavity including a gas storage material in the form of elongate structures supported by the interior surface of the porous wall.
A method of preparing a material for storage of a gas, comprising:
- providing a hollow element, the hollow element having a porous wall enclosing an interior cavity;
- introducing a storage material into the interior cavity by diffusion of a solution through the porous wall, the solution being a solution of the storage material in a solvent;
- and
- removing the solvent from the interior cavity so as to form structures of the storage material within the interior cavity.
A material for the storage and release of hydrogen, the material comprising:
- a plurality of hollow glass microspheres, each hollow glass microsphere comprising a porous wall enclosing an interior cavity, the porous wall having an interior surface facing the interior cavity having an interior surface area,
- the hollow glass microspheres having an average diameter of between 1 micron and 500 microns;
- and
- a gas storage material disposed within the interior cavity, the gas storage material including elongate structures of a solid metal hydride supported by the interior surface of the porous wall,
- the gas storage material within the interior cavity presenting a surface area at least one order of magnitude greater than the interior surface area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.