Researchers from Alicante and Japan Revolutionise Methane Storage

Joint efforts between Alicante and Japan are revolutionising science. Researchers from both continents have developed graphene nanovalves capable of storing large quantities of methane at atmospheric pressure and room temperature.

This discovery, by a group of researchers from the Japanese universities of Shinshu, Nagasaki, and Chiba, along with the University of Alicante, has been published in the prestigious journal 'Nature Energy'.

With this invention, the current drawbacks "in terms of safety, energy conservation, economic cost, and complexity" associated with technologies based on pressurised or liquefied gas for methane storage under these conditions are eradicated.

Thus, the researchers from Alicante and Japan have revolutionised the conservation of this clean energy source. Moreover, they are addressing a significant environmental challenge.

The solution to this issue involved designing "thin graphene nanowindows deposited over the pore entrance of an activated carbon material with a high surface area," explains Joaquín Silvestre, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at UA and one of the article's authors.

These nanowindows have the peculiarity of increasing their mobility with temperature, allowing them to open or close on demand through thermal cycles. "This allows them to be opened at 200 °C, load the cavity system with methane, and subsequently cool it down to store it at room temperature until use," details Silvestre.

Leveraging the high methane adsorption potential in the carbon material's cavities, "this approach allows storing quantities close to 190 v/v (volume per volume percentage) under milder pressure and temperature conditions, without the risk of methane leakage in the storage tank," warns the UA expert in the design of porous materials for energy and environmental applications.

Natural gas, primarily composed of methane, is transported worldwide, either through pipelines where the gas is transported at high pressures or, in the case of long distances, in liquid form (methane liquefied at -162 °C) using methane carriers.

"The fact that methane is the second cleanest energy source after hydrogen is causing its demand to increase constantly, necessitating the development of safer and more efficient storage technologies," points out the UA professor.