Modelling hydrogen adsorption within spherical, cylindrical and slit-shaped cavities

The ability to store hydrogen in a highly dense state within absorbents via the mechanism of adsorption has become a critical step in order to make a hydrogen powered automobile a practical reality. Absorbents are composed of nano-scale cavities (or pores) designed in such a way that hydrogen will adsorb onto the internal surface and thus be stored densely and safely enough for transport at ambient conditions. This work investigates the effect of the geometry of the cavity shape by applying a new mathematical model for predicting gas uptake, which is based on calculating the van der Waals' interactions for hydrogen, within spherical, cylindrical and slit-shaped cavities and assuming equations of state for hydrogen in bulk gas and adsorbed phase.