In this work, porous carbons were prepared from polymeric ion-exchangeable resin by a chemical activation method in order to obtain novel hydrogen storage materials, and the adsorption characteristics of the porous carbons were investigated. The textural properties were studied by BET and D-R methods with N-2/77 K adsorption isotherms. The hydrogen storage behaviors of the porous carbons at 298 K and 100 bar were studied using a PCT apparatus. In the observed post-activation result, the hydrogen storage capacity was markedly improved. However, it was also found that the total amount of adsorption was not proportional to the specific surface area of the adsorbates. This indicates that hydrogen storage could be a function not only of specific surface area or total pore volume but also of microporevolume fraction or the average pore size of adsorbents. (c) 2008 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.