CHAPTER 9: Fuelling the Hydrogen Economy with 3D Graphene-based Macroscopic Assemblies

The utilisation of hydrogen as an alternative fuel presents a potential solution for energy shortage, fossil fuel usage and environmental pollution. Two challenges, namely, the generation and storage of hydrogen, must be addressed before the large-scale utilisation of hydrogen as renewable energy can be achieved. Considerable efforts have been dedicated to exploring novel materials that can solve these issues. Moreover, the recent focus on different types of carbon materials as a general platform for various composites has inspired many possibilities in the energy and environmental sectors. The graphene surface has been modified and dimension-tailored functional graphene structures for the application of hydrogen storage and production. Among these structures, carbon-based macroscopic materials with a 3D porous network have elicited increasing attention in the energy and environment fields. Compared to carbon nanotube-based 3D architectures, graphene-based 3D materials exhibit more advantages, including easy preparation, high efficiency and inexpensive production for economical devices. In the current work, the relationship between the properties of 3D materials and their performance in hydrogen storage and production is discussed. The synthesis and evaluation methods for hydrogen storage and production present promising strategies for further investigations.