[en] Highlights: • The desorption kinetics for LiBH_4 greatly promoted using melt infiltration method. • The LiBH_4 confined in modified MWCNTs shows the best desorption kinetics. • The crystal structure of MWCNTs and SWCNTs is unchanged after ball milling. • Ball milling introduces a great amount of structural defects in the CNTs. • Nano-confinement is dominant on improving the hydrogen desorption of LiBH_4. - Abstract: The dehydrogenation kinetics of LiBH_4 incorporated within various carbon nanotubes has been studied. It is demonstrated that the desorption kinetics of LiBH_4 could be greatly promoted using a simple melt infiltration method and LiBH_4 confined in modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) shows the best desorption kinetics. The structural properties of carbon nanotubes and confined samples are demonstrated by means of transmission electron microscopy, powder X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The crystal structure of MWCNTs and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are almost unchanged after ball milling. But high energy ball milling leads to a decrease in the average nanotube length and introduces a great amount of local disorder and structural defects in the CNTs, which may provide a considerable kinetic improvement

[en] The aim of this study is to describe and analyse the morphological characteristics of nuclei and the secondary wall deposition in parenchyma and fiber cells during the whole bamboo growth cycle from shoots to old culms, with a further purpose to assess the developmental differences between fibers and parenchyma cells and analyze the secondary wall deposition mechanism. Initially the fiber wall thickness was less than the parenchyma cell thickness in young shoots, but increased significantly after 1 year. Fibers elongated earlier than both their nuclei and parenchyma cells. Fiber nuclei also elongated and presented the spindle shape in longitudinal section. The formation and elongation of long cells were involved in the fast elongation of internodes. In mature culms, the ways of secondary wall deposition for fibers depended on their diameter and positions. Large diameter fibers usually had more cell wall layers than narrow fibers. (author)