Monte Carlo simulations of hydrogen adsorption in alkali-doped single-walled carbon nanotubes

The formation of atomic nanoclusters on graphene sheets

The formation of atomic nanoclusters on suspended graphene sheets has been investigated by employing a molecular dynamics simulation at finite temperature. Our systematic study is based on temperature-dependent molecular dynamics simulations of some transition and alkali atoms on suspended graphene sheets. We find that the transition atoms aggregate and make various size nanoclusters distributed randomly on graphene surfaces. We also report that most alkali atoms make one atomic layer on graphene sheets. Interestingly, the potassium atoms almost deposit regularly on the surface at low temperature. We expect from this behavior that the electrical conductivity of a suspended graphene doped by potassium atoms would be much higher than in the case doped by the other atoms at low temperature.

Alkali-metal-induced enhancement of hydrogen adsorption in C60 fullerene: an ab Initio study

It is demonstrated that the doping of alkali metal atoms on fullerene, C60, remarkably enhances the molecular hydrogen adsorption capacity of fullerenes, which is higher than that of conventionally known other fullerene complexes. This effect is observed to be more pronounced for sodium than lithium atom. The formation of stable complex forms of a sodium-doped fullerene molecule, Na8C60, and the corresponding hydrogenated species, [Na(H2)6]8C60, with 48 hydrogen molecules has been demonstrated to lead to a hydrogen adsorption density of approximately 9.5 wt %. One of the main factors favoring the interactions involved is attributed to the pronounced charge transfer from the sodium atom to the C60 molecule and electrostatic interaction between the ion and the dihydrogen. The suitability of these complexes for developing fullerene-based hydrogen storage materials is discussed.

Physical Adsorption Strength in Open Systems

For a physical adsorption system, the distances of adsorbates from the surface of a substrate can vary significantly, depending on particle loading and interatomic interactions. Although the total adsorption energy is quantified easily, the normalized, per-particle adsorption energies are more ambiguous if some of these particles are far away from the surface and are interacting only weakly with the substrate. A simple analytical procedure is proposed to characterize the distance dependence of the physisorption strength and effective adsorption capacity. As an example, the method is utilized to describe H2 physisorption in a finite bundle of single-walled carbon nanotubes.