Activated boron nitride nanotubes: A potential material for room-temperature hydrogen storage

Activated forms of boron nitride nanotubes are studied for potential applications to hydrogen storage with the use of pseudopotential density functional method. The binding and diffusion energies of adsorbed hydrogen are particularly calculated. The calculated binding energy of hydrogen on activated boron nitride nanotubes is found to lie in the right range for room-temperature storage. It is also shown that diffusion through the active sites enables hydrogen to access the inner surface of the nanotubes, which leads to the increase of the storage capacity. Current study provides a tangible solution to increase the operating temperature and capacity of hydrogen storage based on heteropolar nanomaterials such as boron nitride nanotubes.