Fine-Tuning a Robust Metal–Organic Framework toward Enhanced Clean Energy Gas Storage
Zhijie Chen, Mohammad Rasel Mian, Seung-Joon Lee, Haoyuan Chen, Xuan Zhang, Kent O. Kirlikovali, Sarah Shulda, Patrick Melix, Andrew Rosen, Philip A. Parilla, Thomas Gennett, Randall Q. Snurr, Timur İslamoğlu, Taner Yildirim, Omar K. Farha
Abstract
The development of adsorbents with molecular precision offers a promising strategy to enhance storage of hydrogen and methane─considered the fuel of the future and a transitional fuel, respectively─and to realize a carbon-neutral energy cycle. Herein we employ a postsynthetic modification strategy on a robust metal–organic framework (MOF), MFU-4l, to boost its storage capacity toward these clean energy gases. MFU-4l-Li displays one of the best volumetric deliverable hydrogen capacities of 50.2 g L–1 under combined temperature and pressure swing conditions (77 K/100 bar → 160 K/5 bar) while maintaining a moderately high gravimetric capacity of 9.4 wt %. Moreover, MFU-4l-Li demonstrates impressive methane storage performance with a 5–100 bar usable capacity of 251 cm3 (STP) cm–3 (0.38 g g–1) and 220 cm3 (STP) cm–3 (0.30 g g–1) at 270 and 296 K, respectively. Notably, these hydrogen and methane storage capacities are significantly improved compared to those of its isoreticular analogue, MFU-4l, and place MFU-4l-Li among the best MOF-based materials for this application.