Adsorption of hydrogen isotopes on graphene

We investigated the possibility of using graphene for control of hydrogen isotopes by exploring adsorption, reflection, and penetration of hydrogen isotopes on graphene using molecular dynamics. Reflection is the dominant interaction when hydrogen isotopes have low incident energy. Adsorption rates increase with increasing incident energy until 5 eV is reached. After 5 eV, adsorption rates decrease as incident energy increases. At incident energies greater than 5 eV, adsorption rates increase with the number of graphene layers. At low incident energies (<1 eV), no isotopic effects on interactions are observed since the predominant interaction is derived from the force of π electrons. Between 1 eV and 50 eV, heavier isotopes exhibit higher adsorption rates and lower reflection rates than lighter isotopes, due to the greater momentum of heavier isotopes. Adsorption rates are consistently higher when the incident angle of the impacting atoms is smaller between 0.5 eV and 5 eV. At higher energies (>5 eV), larger incident angles lead to higher reflection and lower penetration rates. At high incident energies (>5 eV), crumpled graphene has higher adsorption and lower penetration rates than wrinkled or unwrinkled graphene. The results obtained in this research study will be used to develop novel nanomaterials that can be employed for tritium control