Structure and Dynamics of Hydrogen Inserted in Siliceous Zeolites at High Pressure and Cryogenic Temperatures.

Solid-like nanophases of hydrogen can occur confined in porous materials under much milder pressures and temperatures than those at which bulk solid hydrogen is observed. The goal of this proposal is to study the formation and the metastability of such phases in the pores of zeolites at high pressures and low temperatures by following the pore and unit cell volumes of the zeolites precisely as functions of pressure and temperature by x-ray diffraction. In this way, the metastability of the swelled, H2 filled states at low temperature can be determined, which could have implications for hydrogen storage applications.