Selective synthesis of diameter- and interlayer-controlled carbon nitridenanotubes with hydrogen ensnaring nanopores

Abstract

Diameter- and interlayer-controlled carbon nitride nanotubes (CNNTs) having nanopores with ∼6 Å diameters are synthesized by our new plasma-assisted growth method on catalysts located inside the organic silica mesoporous templates. Our experiments and first-principles calculations show that hydrogen stored inside nanopores of 6.2 Å are attributed to the hydrogen released at 257.24 K.