On-going Research Activities
by Prof. A.D. Lueking

The Lueking research group is working to probe the underlying chemistry and physics of novel carbon materials and carbon-metal-hydrogen interactions, or hydrogen spillover, in catalyzed carbon composites.  The overarching goal is to develop a hydrogen storage material using fundamental relations rather than an Edisonian approach.  The overall theme is to use metal-assisted carbons as a hydrogen storage medium.  To accomplish this goal, we are working to optimize the carbon 'reservoir', looking at new ways to combine metals and carbon, and developing fundamental engineering models to explore the hydrogen spillover process.  The materials under development will likely have additional applications in adsorption, separations, electrochemical devices, and catalysis.

Background Material:
Introduction to Hydrogen Storage
Introduction to Hydrogen Spillover
Introduction to NanoCarbon Synthesis

On-going Activities:
Fundamental Studies of Hydrogen Spillover (Ms. Puja Jain)
Ball-Milled Anthracite-Metal Composites (Ms. Deepa Narayanan)
Development and Characterization of Exfoliated Graphite Nanofibers (Dr. Dania Fonseca)
Novel Carbon Nanomaterials via Reactive Ball Milling (Mr. Apurba Sakti)
Hydrogen Permeation through Exfoliated Graphite Nanofibers (Mr. Nageh El-Motalib)

Our research facilities include:
High-Pressure Gravimetric Analyzer (Hiden IGA-003)
In-line Mass Spectrometry for TG-MS
Carbon Material Synthesis
High-Pressure Differential Sieverts Apparatus (scheduled for installation December 2005)