Matt Mansell

Sulfur and some other compounds have been shown to adsorb within the interior of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) at near-ambient bulk pressures, forming phases with several interesting properties. These phases are poorly understood. Their interesting properties include, most notably, anisotropic pressure (pressure which is different in different directions), and ultra-high pressures – especially in the direction parallel to the CNT axis (tangential pressure). The adsorbed phases also exhibit secondary properties associated with ultra-high pressure, such as metallic character and conductivity. The behavior of the phases is critical to a range of processes of major importance, including adsorptive separation and purification, and heterogeneous catalysis. Therefore, it is essential to progress understanding of these systems. However, much of this behavior is beyond the reach of experimental techniques. We use ab initio techniques and statistical mechanics to study these systems and better describe the behavior in these pores.