1. To prepare polyacrylonitrile (PAN) polymer nanofiber by using electrospinning technique
2. To prepare PAN-based ACNF by carbonization and KOH treatment of PAN polymer nanofiber.
3. To nanoencapsulate hydrides and composites, such as LiBH4, LiBH4-LiAlH4, and LiBH4-NaAlH4, into PAN-based ACNF by solution impregnation, melt infiltration, or other suitable techniques to obtain sample set (i).
4. To physically mix PAN-based ACNF with hydrides and composites to obtain sample set (ii).
5. To impregnate Ti- and Zr-based catalysts into PAN-based ACNF by mixing PAN polymer solution with catalytic precursor solutions and followed by electrospinning, carbonization, and KOH treatment to obtain catalyst-doped ACNFs.
6. To nanoencapsulate hydrides and composites into catalyst-doped ACNFs to obtain sample set (iii).
7. To compressed hydrides and composites modified with ACNF and/or catalyst-doped ACNFs, having superior H2 storage performance, into pellets (sample set (iv)).
8. To prepare the reference samples of hydrides and composites by high-energy ball milling technique.
9. To confirm successful encapsulation of hydrides and composites into PAN-based ACNF and catalyst-doped ACNFs (sample sets (i) and (iii)) by N2 adsorption-desorption technique.
10. To study morphology and distribution of related elements, such as boron (B) from LiBH4, carbon (C) from PAN-based ACNF, and titanium (Ti) and zirconium (Zr) from catalysts, of sample sets (i)-(iii) by scanning electron microscopy (SEM)-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS)-elemental mapping.
11. To study morphology of pellets (sample set (iv)) after compression and cycling.
12. To determine the preliminary results based on de/rehydrogenation temperature and contents of H2 released from sample sets (i)-(iv) by using simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)-thermogravimetric analysis (TG)-mass spectroscopy (MS) or hydrogen temperature-programmed desorption (H2-TPD).
13. To investigate dehydrogenation kinetics, reversibility, and hydrogen reproducibility of sample sets (i)-(iv) by using a Sievert-type apparatus.
14. To study reaction mechanisms during de/rehydrogenation of sample sets (i)-(iv) by using powder Xray diffraction (PXD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and other suitable techniques (e.g., in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction (SR-PXD)).
15. To compare the results of 2.12-2.14 of sample sets (i)-(iv) with respect to related reference samples (2.8).
16. To assemble new test stations for evaluating thermodynamic properties of all samples and thermal conductivity of the pellets.
