Investigating the metastabilities surrounding hydrogen hydrates for energy storage applications

Abstract

Hydrogen hydrate in its most thermodynamically stable form, sII, holds a maximum 3.8 wt. % hydrogen, less than the 5.5 wt. % needed to meet the Department of Energy 2015 goal. This novel work explored H2 hydrate structure, occupancy, and metastability during seeding/templating and guest substitution to ultimately increase hydrogen storage capacity in hydrates. The phenomenon of templating was evaluated by mixing pre-formed hydrate of a desired structure with ice to propagate its structure with another guest. Experiments studying the diffusion of hydrate guests (H2, D2) were also performed.