Effect of fullerene ratio as an organic additive on the hydrogen storage of Se nanoparticles

Abstract

Fullerene was used as a synthon to produce fullerene-decorated selenium (C₆₀-Se) via an in-situ ultrasound-assisted method in the presence of ascorbic acid as a reducing agent. The resulting nanocomposite was characterized by XRD, SEM, and TEM techniques. The characterization techniques prove the formation of ball-like structures with irregular structures due to C₆₀ and Se, respectively. Furthermore, XRD proves the presence of both Se and C₆₀ peaks, proving the suggested structure. A study was conducted to change the ratio of fullerene to selenium in order to determine the best ratio that provides the highest hydrogen storage. The study proved that the ratio containing the highest value of selenium showed the highest ability to store hydrogen, which reached 4.1 wt% at 55 bar and a temperature of 77 K. At the equilibrium pressure (55 bar), enthalpy and entropy were calculated as 0.12873 KJ/mol H₂ and 0.690246 J/mol H₂. K., respectively, proving the physical adsorption.