Journal of Physical Chemistry B, Vol.108, No.45, 17457-17465, 2004
Quantum effects on hydrogen adsorption in internal nanospaces of single-wall carbon nanohorns
Hydrogen adsorption isotherms in single-wall carbon nanohorns (SWNHs) have been measured at 20 K. The pore volume from hydrogen adsorption is compared with that from nitrogen adsorption at 77 K to determine the density of confined hydrogen in the internal space of SWNHs; it indicates that the average density of confined hydrogen inside SWNHs at 20 K is higher than that of liquid hydrogen in the bulk and nearly approaches the density of solid hydrogen at the triple point. The surface area from hydrogen adsorption using the BET theory is anomalously large compared with that for nitrogen; however, an alternative method (modified BET theory), in which an assumption is made that the energy of a molecule in the second layer is larger than that in the liquid, gives a reasonable surface area, especially when the adsorbed hydrogen in the first layer is assumed to be in a solid state. In the modified BET model, a packing constraint of the second layer due to the cylindrical geometry of SWNH is also taken into account. The solidlike behaviors of adsorbed hydrogen would be attributed to quantum effects, which give a strongly attractive pore situation for the hydrogen-SWNH system.