Gravimetric and Spectroscopic Studies of Reversible Hydrogen Sorption on Nanoporous Clinoptilolite

Large surface aluminosilicate compounds such as zeolites are not the best option for hydrogen storage due to their low hydrogen sorption capacity above cryogenic temperatures. However, the known crystal structure and easy ion exchange allows considering zeolites as easily tuneable media that with a little effort can be changed to suitable porous media for hydrogen sorption. Metal (Li, Mg) and ammonia ion exchange is performed in natural clinoptilolite samples with the aim to increase the amount of adsorbed hydrogen. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of the prepared samples is used to study sorption of hydrogen molecules in the vicinity of light metal ions. An original thermogravimetric method is applied to characterise the amount of sorbed hydrogen. Our experiments show that the highest hydrogen uptake (~ 6.2 wt%) is for a clinoptilolite sample treated in acid. The cation exchange did not provide the expected hydrogen sorption capability; however, the amount of sorbed hydrogen exceeded that for the initial material.