Recent progress in the synthesis and applications of zeolitic imidazolate framework materials is presented in this review.

The development of highly efficient hydrogen storage materials is one of the main challenges that must be tackled in a widely expected hydrogen economy. Physisorption in porous materials with high surface areas and chemisorption in hydrides are the two main options for solid state hydrogen storage, and both options possess their inherent advantages and drawbacks. In this work, recent progress towards porous carbon-based materials for hydrogen storage is analyzed and reviewed. The hydrogen storage performance of plain porous carbons, metal-supported porous carbons and porous carbons confined hydrides is summarized. Some strategies for effectively controlling the hydrogen storage capacity and tuning the hydrogen adsorption enthalpy for porous carbon materials via appropriate manipulation of surface area, pore volume and pore size are discussed in detail. The new development of porous carbon-based materials for hydrogen storage is particularly emphasized.

We describe a way of generating films $\text{(<2\hspace{0.05em}}{\mathrm{mm}}^{\mathrm{2}};$ $\text{<40\hspace{0.05em}μ}\mathrm{m}$ thick) of aligned Fe-filled carbon nanotubes. These Fe nanowires are usually composed of single Fe crystals, and have dimensions from 5–40 nm outer diameter and $\text{<10\hspace{0.05em}μ}\mathrm{m}$ in length. The carbon tubes, which coat the wires, have external diameters of $\text{∼20–70\hspace{0.05em}}\mathrm{nm}$ and are $\text{<40\hspace{0.05em}μ}\mathrm{m}$ in length. High-resolution electron energy loss spectroscopy, x-ray powder diffraction, and elemental mapping of the tubular structures reveal only characteristic metallic signals and the effective absence of oxygen (or any other nonmetallic element) within the wires. The material exhibits coercivities in the 430–1070 Oe range, i.e., greater than those reported for Ni and Co nanowires.