Project Plan

The project will last two years and will be articulated in 6 different work-packages (WP), with different aims and durations. The WPs overlie one another, while the scientific work of the three research units will well integrate during the different research steps.

In particular, the WPs will regard: 1) the synthesis and characterization of the pure and doped/defective C-based nanostructures; 2) the preparation and physico-chemical characterization of the storage systems; 3) the characterization of the sorption properties and of the sorption mechanism of the systems themselves; 4) the search for suitable catalysts/destabilizing agents to improve the sorption properties of the most promising storage systems; 5) a pre-technological and applicative investigation of the systems, consisting in the measurement of the anisotropic thermal conductivity at room temperature and of the total thermal conductivity as a function of temperature; 6) the dissemination of the results to the scientific community.

Gantt chart of the Project

The three C-based nanostructures considered in the frame of the project will be graphene, graphene oxide and fullerene. They will be synthesized by both the Pavia H2 Lab and the Parma Unit.  
These materials will be used as matrices to realize two different kinds of hydrogen storage systems: on one side, they will be suitably doped/defected and then covered/decorated with metals (alkaline, alkaline earth and transition metals), the active phases towards hydrogen. On the other hand, they will be used as guest phases/dispersant agents for complex hydrides and reactive hydride composites (the active phases), and their catalytic / destabilization activity will be tested. The preparation of the samples will be made at the Parma Unit and at the Pavia H2 Lab (Unit A of the Pavia University) respectively.
The chemico-physical, mechanistic and sorption characterization of the materials will be performed in the lab of external collaborators.