Theoretical investigation on the alkali-metal doped BN fullerene as a material for hydrogen storage

First-principles calculations have been used to investigate hydrogen adsorption on alkali atom doped B36N36 clusters. Adsorption of alkali atoms involves a charge transfer process, creating positively-charged alkali atoms and this polarizes the H2 molecules and increases their binding energy. The maximum hydrogen storage capacity of Li doped BN fullerene is 8.9 wt.% in which 60 hydrogen atoms were chemisorbed and 12 H2 were adsorbed in molecular form.