We provide evidence of low-temperature hydrogen evolution and possible hydrogen trapping in an anthracite coal derivative, formed via reactive ball milling with cyclohexene. No molecular hydrogen is added to the process. Raman-active molecular hydrogen vibrations are apparent in samples at atmospheric conditions (300 K, 1 bar) for samples prepared 1 year previously and stored in ambient air. Hydrogen evolves slowly at room temperature and is accelerated upon sample heating, with a first increase in hydrogen evolution occurring at approximately 60 degrees C. Subsequent chemical modification leads to the observation of crystalline carbons, including nanocrystalline diamond surrounded by graphene ribbons, other sp2-sp3 transition regions, purely graphitic regions, and a previously unidentified crystalline carbon form surrounded by amorphous carbon. The combined evidence for hydrogen trapping and carbon crystallization suggests hydrogen-induced crystallization of the amorphous carbon materials, as metastable hydrogenated carbons formed via the high-energy milling process rearrange into more thermodynamically stable carbon forms and molecular hydrogen.

Graphite nanofibers (GNFs) were doped with platinum in an attempt to activate the materials for moderate temperature hydrogen adsorption. Characterization of the 1% Pt/GNF sample indicates well-dispersed, metallic platinum particles ranging from 2 to 5 nm in diameter. At 27 °C and 20 bar, the hydrogen uptake of 1% Pt/GNF was less than 0.1 wt % and showed no increase relative to the GNF precursor within experimental detection limits. To explore this apparent anomaly, a stochastic Monte Carlo simulation was used to analyze the hydrogen spillover process for idealized two-dimensional surfaces with two surface types with interfacial mass transfer from the first to the second surface site. The model suggests interfacial mass transfer may not improve overall surface coverage when the rates of adsorption and desorption to the support are comparable. Dimensionless groupings are introduced to the stochastic simulation to explore the conditions in which interfacial transfer will lead to significant surface coverage from a catalytically active surface to a previously inert surface. The implications for hydrogen storage are discussed.

Analytical pyrolysis was conducted to identify and quantify the major pyrolysis products of a biodiesel phenolic urethane binder as a function of temperature. This biodiesel binder has been used in U.S. foundries recently to replace conventional phenolic urethane binders for making sand cores. Flash pyrolysis and thermogravimetric analytical (TGA) slow pyrolysis were conducted for the core samples to simulate some key features of the heating conditions that the core binders would experience during metal casting. Pyrolysis products from flash and TGA pyrolysis were analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/flame ionization detection/thermal conductivity detection. The evolution profiles of the pyrolysis products during TGA slow pyrolysis were also monitored via thermogravimetry-mass spectrometry (TG-MS). The combination of TG-MS and TGA pyrolysis emission data facilitated a quantification of gaseous pyrolysis products of the biodiesel binder as a function of temperature. The major monitored carbonaceous pyrolysis products of the biodiesel binder included CO, CO2, CH4, and a variety of methyl esters such as dimethyl glutarate, dimethyl adipate, and methyl oleate. These latter species were the components of the biodiesel binder's solvent Pyrolysis of the biodiesel binder also generated a variety of hazardous air pollutants listed by the U.S. EPA, with benzene, toluene, xylene, phenol, and cresols being the prominent species. A considerable fraction of the binder's released mass did not appear as exhausted volatile carbonaceous species, but rather recondensed before they exhausted from the TGA. This represented mass that could likewise recondense within a green sand molding system during full-scale operations, as an environmentally favorable containment of air emissions.