  Due to its large surface area and strongly attractive potential, a bundle of
carbon nanotubes is an ideal substrate material for gas storage. In addition,
adsorption in nanotubes can be exploited in order to separate the components of
a mixture. In this paper, we investigate the preferential adsorption of D_2
versus H_2(isotope selectivity) and of ortho versus para(spin selectivity)
molecules confined in the one-dimensional grooves and interstitial channels of
carbon nanotube bundles. We perform selectivity calculations in the low
coverage regime, neglecting interactions between adsorbate molecules. We find
substantial spin selectivity for a range of temperatures up to 100 K, and even
greater isotope selectivity for an extended range of temperatures,up to 300 K.
This isotope selectivity is consistent with recent experimental data, which
exhibit a large difference between the isosteric heats of D_2 and H_2 adsorbed
in these bundles.
