Aluminum hydride coated single-walled carbon nanotube as a hydrogen storage medium

We report a first principle study on the hydrogen storage in Aluminum hydride (AlH 3) coated (5, 5) single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT). Our study indicates that a SWCNT coated with Aluminum hydride (Alane – AlH 3) can bind up to four hydrogen molecules. At half coverage of AlH 3, the hydrogen storage capacity of the SWCNT is 8.3 wt%. The system with full coverage is also studied and it is found that, even though the hydrogen storage capacity increases, the binding of H 2 is weak. All the H 2 adsorption is molecular with H–H bond length of 0.756 Å. Our result on a full molecular adsorption of hydrogen via light metal hydride is new and it leads to a practically viable storage process.