Synthesis, characterization, and reversible hydrogen sorption study of sodium-doped fullerene

Herein is presented a novel, straightforward route to the synthesis of an alkali metal-doped fullerene as well as a detailed account of its reversible and enhanced hydrogen sorption properties in comparison to pure C 60 . This work demonstrates that a reaction of sodium hydride with fullerene (C 60 ) results in the formation of a sodium-doped fullerene capable of reversible hydrogen sorption via a chemisorption mechanism. This material not only demonstrated reversible hydrogen storage over several cycles, it also showed the ability to reabsorb over three times the amount of hydrogen (relative to the hydrogen content of NaH) under optimized conditions. The sodium-doped fullerene was hydrogenated on a pressure composition temperature (PCT) instrument at 275 ° C while under 100 bar of hydrogen pressure. The hydrogen desorption behavior of this sodium-doped fullerene hydride was observed over a temperature range up to 375 ° C on the PCT and up to 550 ° C on the th...

Douglas A Knight, Joseph A Teprovich Jr, Andrew Summers, Brent Peters, Patrick A Ward, Robert N Compton and Ragaiy Zidan

Click for full article