Can carbon nanotubes adsorb hydrogen?

Four methods are available for hydrogen storage: liquefaction, compression, storage under chemical bonds, and storage under physical bonds. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been considered, since the end of the 1990s, as interesting materials to adsorb hydrogen, but over time many criticalities have emerged.

Are carbon nanotubes a hydrogen storage material?

Since 1997, when carbon nanotubes appeared to be a promising storage material, many theoretical and experimental groups have investigated the hydrogen storage capacity of these carbon nanostructures. These efforts were not always successful and consequently, the results obtained were often controversial.

What is the hydrogen storage performance of single walled nanotubes (SWNTs)?

More recent experimental studies, such as the work of Kajiura et al.6, have shown that the hydrogen storage performance of single walled nanotubes (SWNTs), multi-walled nanotubes (MWNTs), and nanofibers (CNFs), at ambient temperature and up to 8 MPa, cannot surpass 0.43 wt% (obtained for purified SWNTs).

Are boron nitride nanotubes a new material for hydrogen storage?

Following this direction, a novel tubular material that has attracted the attention of researchers is boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs). Since their discovery 12, BNNTs have been tested as new materials for hydrogen storage 13.

Do alkali-doped carbon nanotubes have high hydrogen adsorption?

Two years later, Chen et al.4 reported that alkali-doped carbon nanotubes demonstrate high hydrogen uptake. They investigated lithium- and potassium-doped carbon nanotubes and found hydrogen adsorption of 14 – 20 wt% between 400 °C and room temperature.

Does nanotube hydrogenation depend on the diameter of a nanotube?

Using atomic hydrogen as the hydrogenation agent, we demonstrated that maximal degree of nanotube hydrogenation depends on the nanotube diameter, and for the diameter values around 2.0 nm nanotube-hydrogen complexes with close to 100% hydrogenation exist and are stable at room temperature.