The main hurdle that is holding back the use of natural gas as a fuel for vehicles and in other forms of transportation is the lack of materials that can store sufficient amounts under accessible operating conditions to make it both viable and competitive. In this regard, the main challenge is finding materials that have the right balance of porosity and packing density, and that can store and deliver methane to the set volumetric targets. Here we report a new approach to achieving such materials by presenting the concept of carbon composites that simultaneously have high porosity (up to ca. 2800 m² g⁻¹ and 1.5 cm³ g⁻¹) and high packing density (up to ca. 1.0 g cm⁻³). Using plastic waste as starting material, we have prepared carbon composites that are modelled on activated carbons but with an added inorganic component, and that achieve (at 25 °C) methane storage of 285 cm³ (STP) cm⁻³ at 35 bar, 374 cm³ (STP) cm⁻³ at 65 bar and 447 cm³ (STP) cm⁻³ at 100 bar. The carbon composites can also deliver methane of up to 256 cm³ (STP) cm⁻³ for a pressure swing of 35 to 1 bar, 280 cm³ (STP) cm⁻³ for a 65 to 5 bar pressure swing, and 358 cm³ (STP) cm⁻³ for a 100 to 5 bar pressure swing. This methane storage performance is greater, by some margin, than any previously reported and meets set volumetric uptake targets even at a low pressure of 35 to 65 bar. Our findings offer a new concept and insights in the much wider area of the development of porous materials for the storage of energy-related gas (CH₄, H₂, CO₂, etc), and could offer a step change in the achievable level of volumetric storage of methane as a fuel especially for vehicular transport use.

中文翻译：

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多孔碳复合材料作为具有非凡甲烷储存能力的清洁能源材料


阻碍天然气作为车辆和其他运输方式燃料使用的主要障碍是缺乏能够在可行的操作条件下储存足够量天然气的材料，使其既可行又具有竞争力。在这方面，主要的挑战是找到具有孔隙率和堆积密度适当平衡的材料，并且可以存储和输送甲烷至设定的体积目标。在这里，我们报告了一种实现此类材料的新方法，提出了同时具有高孔隙率（高达约 2800 m ² g ⁻¹ 和 1.5 cm ³ g ⁻¹ ）和高堆积密度（高达约 1.0 g cm ⁻³ ）。使用塑料废物作为起始材料，我们制备了碳复合材料，该复合材料以活性炭为模型，但添加了无机成分，并且（25°C 时）甲烷储存量为 285 cm ³ (STP) cm ⁻³ 在 35 巴、374 厘米 ³ (STP) 厘米 ⁻³ 在 65 巴、447 厘米 ³ (STP) 厘米 ⁻³ 在 100 巴。碳复合材料还可以在 35 至 1 bar、280 cm ³ 的压力波动下输送高达 256 cm ³ (STP) cm ⁻³ 的甲烷（ STP) cm ⁻³ 用于 65 至 5 bar 的压力波动，358 cm ³ (STP) cm ⁻³ 用于 100 至 5 bar 的压力波动。这种甲烷存储性能在一定程度上比之前报道的任何性能都要高，即使在 35 至 65 bar 的低压下也能满足设定的体积吸收目标。 我们的研究结果为用于存储能源相关气体的多孔材料的开发提供了新的概念和见解（CH ₄ 、 H ₂ 、 CO ₂ 等），并且可以使甲烷作为燃料（特别是用于车辆运输使用）的体积储存的可实现水平发生阶跃变化。