Growth of carbon nanotubes on nanotubular titanium dioxide template and electrochemical hydrogen storage thereof

Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) and TiO2 nanotubes have been individually considered as potential hydrogen storage materials. It is quiet possible that combining these two unique materials to form a composite structure would possibly yield a much better hydrogen storage material than the individual ones. Vertically oriented and well organized nanotubular TiO2 arrays were formed by electrochemical anodization process. The growth of CNTs on the nanotubular TiO2 arrays was accomplished by Chemical Vapor Deposition technique. In this investigation hydrogen storage studies were carried out on the TiO 2 nanotubular arrays having different diameters by charging and discharging hydrogen with potentiostatic/galvanostatic control. Hydrogen storage studies were also carried out on the template grown CNTs. The shape and configuration of the template-grown CNTs allow the entire CNT surface to be exposed to the electrolyte and it can be used as an electrode without any alteration. Therefore, highly reproducible results can be obtained using CNTs grown on TiO2 templates. In this investigation it is reported that the growth of carbon nanotubes onto nano-porous titanium oxide can enhance storage of hydrogen as determined by electrochemical means. The utilization of this novel hydrogen storage method can be recognized as a break-through in the hydrogen economy as applied to vehicular application.