Hydrogen adsorption on graphite and in carbon slit pores from path integral simulations

3He adsorbed on molecular hydrogen surfaces

Using a diffusion Monte Carlo technique, we calculated the phase diagram of 3He adsorbed on a first solid layer of a molecular hydrogen isotope (H2, HD, and D2) on top of graphite. The results are qualitatively similar in all cases: a two-dimensional gas spanning from the infinite dilution limit to a second-layer helium density of 0.048 ± 0.004 Å-2. That gas is in equilibrium with a 7/12 commensurate structure, more stable than any incommensurate triangular solid of similar density. These findings are in reasonably good agreement with available experimental data.

Quantum chemical simulation of hydrogen adsorption in pores: A study by DFT, SAPT0 and IGM methods

Hydrogen as a versatile energy carrier continues to attract research attention in the field of applied chemistry. One of the fundamental issues on the way to hydrogen economy is the difficulty of hydrogen storage. Physical adsorption of hydrogen in pores is a feasible and effective method of hydrogen storage. Among existing hydrogen-adsorbing materials, carbon nanostructures possess a number of advantages due to their high adsorption capacity, significant strength and low weight. In this work, we use the modern methods of quantum chemistry (DFT, SAPT0 and IGM) to study the adsorption of molecular hydrogen in a series of simulated slit-like carbon micropores with a distance between the walls of d = 4–10 Å, including the introduction of an H2 molecule into a pore, filling pores with these molecules and investigating the interactions between H2 molecules inside the pores. It was found that, depending on the value of parameter d, adsorbed hydrogen molecules form one (d = 6, 7 Å) or two layers (d = 8, 9, 10 Å) inside the pore. At the same time, for pores with small d values, high potential barriers to the introduction of H2 into a pore were observed. The decomposition of the interaction energy into components showed dispersion interactions to make a major contribution to the energy of attraction (72–82%). Moreover, an increase in the number of H2 molecules adsorbed in the pore decreases the significance of dispersion interactions (up to 61%) and increases the contribution of electrostatic and induction interactions to intermolecular attraction. Gravimetric density (GD) values were determined for pores with d = 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Å, comprising 1.98, 2.30, 2.93, 3.25 and 4.49 wt%, respectively. It is assumed that the revealed peculiarities of hydrogen adsorption in pores will contribute to the use of carbon porous structures as a medium for hydrogen storage.

Low-temperature hydrogen-graphite system revisited: Experimental study and Monte Carlo simulation

Hydrogen adsorption by microporous carbon materials attracts much attention for the past few decades, which has been stimulated by growing interest in hydrogen storage. Numerous studies of this topic based on molecular simulation technique have been reported. However, in many cases, the reliability of the results obtained with numerical methods is insufficient, which is a consequence of poor reference data used for fitting parameters of the fluid-fluid and fluid-solid potentials. This study is devoted to a detailed experimental investigation of the hydrogen-graphite system and its modeling with a kinetic Monte Carlo method at temperatures from 20 to 77 K and the bulk pressure from 0.1 Pa to 100 kPa. We found that the best fit of the bulk hydrogen equation of state corresponds to the 10-6 Lennard-Jones potential with the temperature dependent parameters to account for the quantum effects. The experimental hydrogen adsorption isotherms on the graphite surface were fitted with a high accuracy, which constitutes a firm basis of subsequent simulation of hydrogen adsorption in various nanoporous carbons and their pore size distribution analysis using a kernel generated with the developed approach.

Hydrogen Isotope Separation in Confined Nanospaces: Carbons, Zeolites, Metal-Organic Frameworks, and Covalent Organic Frameworks

One of the greatest challenges of modern separation technology is separating isotope mixtures in high purity. The separation of hydrogen isotopes can create immense economic value by producing valuable deuterium (D) and tritium (T), which are irreplaceable for various industrial and scientific applications. However, current separation methods suffer from low separation efficiency owing to the similar chemical properties of isotopes; thus, high-purity isotopes are not easily achieved. Recently, nanoporous materials have been proposed as promising candidates and are supported by a newly proposed separation mechanism, i.e., quantum effects. Herein, the fundamentals of the quantum sieving effect of hydrogen isotopes in nanoporous materials are discussed, which are mainly kinetic quantum sieving and chemical-affinity quantum sieving, including the recent advances in the analytical techniques. As examples of nanoporous materials, carbons, zeolites, metal-organic frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks are addressed from computational and experimental standpoints. Understanding the quantum sieving effect in nanospaces and the tailoring of porous materials based on it will open up new opportunities to develop a highly efficient and advanced isotope separation systems.

Limited Quantum Helium Transportation through Nano-channels by Quantum Fluctuation

Helium at low temperatures has unique quantum properties such as superfluidity, which causes it to behave differently from a classical fluid. Despite our deep understanding of quantum mechanics, there are many open questions concerning the properties of quantum fluids in nanoscale systems. Herein, the quantum behavior of helium transportation through one-dimensional nanopores was evaluated by measuring the adsorption of quantum helium in the nanopores of single-walled carbon nanohorns and AlPO4-5 at 2-5 K. Quantum helium was transported unimpeded through nanopores larger than 0.7 nm in diameter, whereas quantum helium transportation was significantly restricted through 0.4-nm and 0.6-nm nanopores. Conversely, nitrogen molecules diffused through the 0.4-nm nanopores at 77 K. Therefore, quantum helium behaved as a fluid comprising atoms larger than 0.4-0.6 nm. This phenomenon was remarkable, considering that helium is the smallest existing element with a (classical) size of approximately 0.27 nm. This finding revealed the presence of significant quantum fluctuations. Quantum fluctuation determined the behaviors of quantum flux and is essential to understanding unique quantum behaviors in nanoscale systems.

Modelling of graphene functionalization

This perspective describes the available theoretical methods and models for simulating graphene functionalization based on quantum and classical mechanics.

Computer simulation of liquid-vapor coexistence of confined quantum fluids

The liquid-vapor coexistence (LV) of bulk and confined quantum fluids has been studied by Monte Carlo computer simulation for particles interacting via a semiclassical effective pair potential Veff(r) = VLJ + VQ, where VLJ is the Lennard-Jones 12-6 potential (LJ) and VQ is the first-order Wigner-Kirkwood (WK-1) quantum potential, that depends on β = 1∕kT and de Boer's quantumness parameter Λ=h/σ√mε, where k and h are the Boltzmann's and Planck's constants, respectively, m is the particle's mass, T is the temperature of the system, and σ and ε are the LJ potential parameters. The non-conformal properties of the system of particles interacting via the effective pair potential Veff(r) are due to Λ, since the LV phase diagram is modified by varying Λ. We found that the WK-1 system gives an accurate description of the LV coexistence for bulk phases of several quantum fluids, obtained by the Gibbs Ensemble Monte Carlo method (GEMC). Confinement effects were introduced using the Canonical Ensemble (NVT) to simulate quantum fluids contained within parallel hard walls separated by a distance Lp, within the range 2σ ≤ Lp ≤ 6σ. The critical temperature of the system is reduced by decreasing Lp and increasing Λ, and the liquid-vapor transition is not longer observed for Lp∕σ < 2, in contrast to what has been observed for the classical system.

Hydrogen storage in nanoporous carbon materials: myth and facts

We used Grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation to model the hydrogen storage in the primitive, gyroid, diamond, and quasi-periodic icosahedral nanoporous carbon materials and in carbon nanotubes. We found that none of the investigated nanoporous carbon materials satisfy the US Department of Energy goal of volumetric density and mass storage for automotive application (6 wt% and 45 kg H(2) m(-3)) at considered storage condition. Our calculations indicate that quasi-periodic icosahedral nanoporous carbon material can reach the 6 wt% at 3.8 MPa and 77 K, but the volumetric density does not exceed 24 kg H(2) m(-3). The bundle of single-walled carbon nanotubes can store only up to 4.5 wt%, but with high volumetric density of 42 kg H(2) m(-3). All investigated nanoporous carbon materials are not effective against compression above 20 MPa at 77 K because the adsorbed density approaches the density of the bulk fluid. It follows from this work that geometry of carbon surfaces can enhance the storage capacity only to a limited extent. Only a combination of the most effective structure with appropriate additives (metals) can provide an efficient storage medium for hydrogen in the quest for a source of "clean" energy.

State of hydrogen in idealized carbon slitlike nanopores at 77 K

The purpose of this letter is to clarify recent findings and answer to the question: "What is the state of hydrogen in carbon slitlike pores at 77 K?" For this purpose, we determined the volumetric density of hydrogen in idealized carbon pores of molecular dimension at 77 K and pressure up to 1 MPa. We used quantum corrected grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation. We recognized the highest volumetric density of confined hydrogen (around 71% of hydrogen liquid at boiling point) for effective pore width 5.6 angstroms (H* = 3.04) in the considered pressure range. Our computational results are in agreement with the calculations performed by Wang and Johnson and Rzepka et al. In contrast, we did not observe the high volumetric density of hydrogen in slitlike carbon pores exceeding the density of hydrogen liquid at the boiling point as was reported by Jagiello and Thommes. Moreover, we obtained qualitative agreement between the simulation results and some experimental findings reported by Nijkamp.

Graphene nanostructures as tunable storage media for molecular hydrogen

Many methods have been proposed for efficient storage of molecular hydrogen for fuel cell applications. However, despite intense research efforts, the twin U.S. Department of Energy goals of 6.5% mass ratio and 62 kg/m3 volume density has not been achieved either experimentally or via theoretical simulations on reversible model systems. Carbon-based materials, such as carbon nanotubes, have always been regarded as the most attractive physisorption substrates for the storage of hydrogen. Theoretical studies on various model graphitic systems, however, failed to reach the elusive goal. Here, we show that insufficiently accurate carbon-H2 interaction potentials, together with the neglect and incomplete treatment of the quantum effects in previous theoretical investigations, led to misleading conclusions for the absorption capacity. A proper account of the contribution of quantum effects to the free energy and the equilibrium constant for hydrogen adsorption suggest that the U.S. Department of Energy specification can be approached in a graphite-based physisorption system. The theoretical prediction can be realized by optimizing the structures of nano-graphite platelets (graphene), which are light-weight, cheap, chemically inert, and environmentally benign.

Quantum Effects on Hydrogen Isotope Adsorption on Single-Wall Carbon Nanohorns

H(2) and D(2) adsorption on single-wall carbon nanohorns (SWNHs) have been measured at 77 K, and the experimental data were compared with grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations for adsorption of these hydrogen isotopes on a model SWNH. Quantum effects were included in the simulations through the Feynman-Hibbs effective potential. The simulation predictions show good agreement with the experimental results and suggest that the hydrogen isotope adsorption at 77 K can be successfully explained with the use of the effective potential. According to the simulations, the hydrogen isotopes are preferentially adsorbed in the cone part of the SWNH with a strong potential field, and quantum effects cause the density of adsorbed H(2) inside the SWNH to be 8-26% smaller than that of D(2). The difference between H(2) and D(2) adsorption increases as pressure decreases because the quantum spreading of H(2), which is wider than that of D(2), is fairly effective at the narrow conical part of the SWNH model. These facts indicate that quantum effects on hydrogen adsorption depend on pore structures and are very important even at 77 K.