Gas adsorption in the inside and outside of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Adsorption properties of nitrogen and oxygen gases in single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) bundles were investigated by the isotherm and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. In the as-grown (AG) nanotubes with close-ended caps, both the gases are adsorbed only in the interstitial channels between triangular packed nanotubes. In the heat-treated (HT) nanotubes with open ends, the gases are adsorbed first in the inside of tubes, and next in the interstitial channels. In each site, gases can be adsorbed with the stoichiometory of C20N2 or C20O2 as a monolayer. These results indicate that the inside of nanotube has strong affinity for gas adsorption than the interstitial channels of bundles.