Freezing and melting of hydrogen confined in nanoporous silica

J Phys Condens Matter. 2014 Jun 4;26(22):225004. doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/26/22/225004. Epub 2014 May 13.

Abstract

Thermodynamic properties of condensed hydrogen in geometric confinement remain poorly understood. Here, we use relaxation calorimetry to study solidification and melting of H2 in a series of Vycor-type nanoporous silica glasses with interconnected pores with average diameters in a wide range of ∼100-3000 Å. We find that the depression of freezing and melting temperatures for this quantum system follows the classical Gibbs-Thomson-like behavior, scaling inversely with the pore size when correlated to pore diameters measured directly by electron microscopy, rather than conventional gas sorption techniques. The shapes of pore size distributions derived from hydrogen thermoporometry are, however, more complex than those measured by gas sorption. The ratio between temperatures of the depression of freezing and melting suggests that the actual pore geometry in Vycor-type nanoporous glasses deviates from cylindrical.

MeSH terms

  • Computer Simulation
  • Hydrogen / chemistry*
  • Hydrogen / isolation & purification*
  • Materials Testing
  • Models, Chemical*
  • Models, Molecular*
  • Nanoparticles / ultrastructure*
  • Nanopores / ultrastructure*
  • Porosity
  • Silicon Dioxide / chemistry*
  • Transition Temperature

Substances

  • Silicon Dioxide
  • Hydrogen