Tailoring hydrogen storage properties of MWCNTs via h-BN nanoparticle incorporation

The hydrogen absorption capacity of pristine multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanoparticle-doped MWCNTs (h-BN/MWCNTs) were investigated at 73K under pressures ranging from 5 to 50 bar. The MWCNTs were purified using H₂SO₄/HNO₃ as oxidizing agents, after which h-BN nanoparticles were successfully incorporated onto the purified MWCNTs via a wet chemical method. The structural and morphological characteristics of the synthesized h-BN/MWCNTs were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Hydrogen adsorption measurements for both purified MWCNTs and h-BN/MWCNTs were carried out using Sievert’s apparatus. The results demonstrated that the h-BN/MWCNTs exhibited a hydrogen uptake capacity ranging from 0.77 wt% at 5 bar and 73K to a maximum of 2.01 wt%, highlighting the effectiveness of h-BN incorporation in enhancing hydrogen storage performance.