Uptake of gases in bundles of carbon nanotubes

Model calculations are presented that predict whether or not an arbitrary gas experiences significant absorption within carbon nanotubes and/or bundles of nanotubes. The potentials used in these calculations assume a conventional form, based on a sum of two-body interactions with individual carbon atoms; the latter employ energy and distance parameters that are derived from empirical combining rules. The results confirm intuitive expectation that small atoms and molecules are absorbed within both the interstitial channels and the tubes, while large atoms and molecules are absorbed almost exclusively within the tubes.