A team of scientists from the University of Crete, led by George Frouthakis, have theorized an idea to make a material that can pave the way for a new generation of hydrogen fuel tanks for cars which can store significant amounts of gas.
The researchers say that the new material would be able to absorb 6.1 per cent of its weight in hydrogen at room temperature and pressure.
Their work attains significance because the US Department of Energy had set for scientists the challenge to create materials capable of holding 6 percent of their weight in hydrogen five years ago.

Hydrogen is in many ways the perfect fuel – it can be burnt in combustion engines and produces only water as a by-product. But for hydrogen-powered vehicles, the gas tank is a big limiting factor.

The new design comprises sheets of graphene, atom-thick carbon sheets, separated by 1.2-nanometre-tall carbon nanotube pillars.
“This material’s storage capacity is, to the best of our knowledge, the best reported in the literature regarding carbon-based materials (at normal temperature and pressure),” said Dr. Frouthakis.