A porous carbon material with specific surface area of 894 m(2)/g and pore volume of 0.47 cm(3)/g has been easily synthesized by pyrolysis of a gel containing nickel chloride. Transmission electron microscopy reveals a texture of evenly spreading spherical mesapores and well dispersed micropores. Potassium hydroxide treatment results in a surface area and pore volume of the pristine materials of up to 2930 m(2)/g and 1.52 cm(3)/g, respectively. Cryogenic hydrogen uptake capacities were measured and the highest capacity of 6.24 wt% was obtained at 77 K under 2 MPa. (C) 2010 Professor T. Nejat Veziroglu. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.