Performance of carbon arc-discharge nanotubes to hydrogen energy storage.

Adsorption properties of gram-scale samples of different kind of arc discharge nanotubes were studied, namely: (A) raw collaret collected on the cathode, (B) raw soots collected on the lateral reactor wall, (C) thermally treated soot, and (D) thermally then chemically treated soot. The morphology, structure, and composition of these materials were characterized by SEM, TEM, TGA, and BET. In addition, hydrogen adsorption isotherms were recorded experimentally for A, B, and D samples over the pressure range of 0 to 55 bar at ambient temperature. Our experiments indicated a maximum-yet weak-hydrogen storage at room temperature of approximately 0.13 H2 wt% for the purified product (D).