KCS

Since the discovery of carbon nanotube, enthusiastic attentions have been paid to the preparation and potential applications of various inorganic hollow nanostructured materials. These materials have been synthesized under high temperature reaction conditions such as arc discharge evaporation, laser ablation and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), or casting with already-formed nanostructured materials as templates. We have successfully synthesized the various nanostructured inorganic materials based on the surfactant-templated hydrothermal process. This novel synthesis for inorganic nanomaterials uses molecular self-assembly of a surfactant and an inorganic precursor occurring at low temperatures in conventional reaction vessels. These materials appeared promising for applications in hydrogen storage and nanoelectronics. The results of the hydrogen uptake also provide new insights into the nature of the novel hydrogen storage mechanism in inorganic nanostructured materials.