Role of exposed metal sites in hydrogen storage in MOFs

The role of exposed metal sites in increasing the H2 storage performances in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has been investigated by means of IR spectrometry. Three MOFs have been considered: MOF-5, with unexposed metal sites, and HKUST-1 and CPO-27-Ni, with exposed Cu(2+) and Ni(2+), respectively. The onset temperature of spectroscopic features associated with adsorbed H2 correlates with the adsorption enthalpy obtained by the VTIR method and with the shift experienced by the H-H stretching frequency. This relationship can be ascribed to the different nature and accessibility of the metal sites. On the basis of a pure energetic evaluation, it was observed that the best performance was shown by CPO-27-Ni that exhibits also an initial adsorption enthalpy of -13.5 kJ mol(-1), the highest yet observed for a MOF. Unfortunately, upon comparison of the hydrogen amounts stored at high pressure, the hydrogen capacities in these conditions are mostly dependent on the surface area and total pore volume of the material. This means that if control of MOF surface area can benefit the total stored amounts, only the presence of a great number of strong adsorption sites can make the (P, T) storage conditions more economically favorable. These observations lead to the prediction that efficient H2 storage by physisorption can be obtained by increasing the surface density of strong adsorption sites.     

Spectroscopic evidence for the influence of the benzene sites on tightly bound H2 in metal-organic frameworks with unsaturated metal centers: MOF-74-cobalt

The role of low binding energy sites on the adsorption of H(2) in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with unsaturated metal centers has not been identified. For instance, the importance of the benzene sites on H(2) adsorption at the metal site in MOF-74 has not been established. We report here experimental evidence that unambiguously shows that the internal mode of H(2) adsorbed at the metal site undergoes both a frequency shift and a marked change in its dynamic dipole moment when H(2) is adsorbed at the next nearest neighbor "benzene" site in MOF-74-Co. The effect of loading (i.e., occupation of all benzene sites) also induces spectroscopic shifts in H(2) at the metal site. These interactions highlight the role of lower binding energy sites in H(2) adsorption.     

Incorporation of active metal sites in MOFs via in situ generated ligand deficient metal-linker complexes

Two novel 3D MOFs, namely MOF-647A and MOF-648 (previously unknown trinodal 4-connected net), comprised of Cu ions and pyrazole-3,5-dicarboxylate were synthesized and characterized. A strategy for incorporating open metal sites in MOFs was investigated by utilizing an in situ generated metal-linker complex as a precursor to construct MOF-648.     

Metal-organic frameworks with exceptionally high capacity for storage of carbon dioxide at room temperature

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) show high CO2 storage capacity at room temperature. Gravimetric CO2 isotherms for MOF-2, MOF-505, Cu3(BTC)2, MOF-74, IRMOFs-11, -3, -6, and -1, and MOF-177 are reported up to 42 bar. Type I isotherms are found in all cases except for MOFs based on Zn4O(O2C)6 clusters, which reveal a sigmoidal isotherm (having a step). The various pressures of the isotherm steps correlate with increasing pore size, which indicates potential for gas separations. The amine functionality of the IRMOF-3 pore shows evidence of relatively increased affinity for CO2. Capacities qualitatively scale with surface area and range from 3.2 mmol/g for MOF-2 to 33.5 mmol/g (320 cm3(STP)/cm3, 147 wt %) for MOF-177, the highest CO2 capacity of any porous material reported.     

Design for hydrogen storage materials via observation of adsorption sites by computer tomography

An effective method denoted as "computer tomography for materials" (mCT) was employed to study the adsorption sites inside metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) at any positions and any view angles. For MOF-5, the first adsorption site alpha(-COO)3 was clearly observed from the mCT images; it locates at the position where three -COO groups joined like a cup. There are four alpha(-COO)3 sites around the Zn4O cluster. Two of them located at the diagonal of the Zn4O cluster are in the same plane "A", whereas the other two equivalent adsorption sites are in another plane "B", which is about 5.4 A away from the plane A. It was found that the electronegativity of oxygen atoms is very important to the adsorption of hydrogen molecules. The hydrogen amount adsorbed in MOFs might be enhanced by introducing some strong electronegative atoms to the organic linkers or frameworks. On the basis of this point of view, five new MOF materials were designed. The adsorbed amounts both in number of hydrogen molecules per unit cell and weight uptake for all of the designed MOFs were calculated. The adsorption amounts of designed MOFs were improved, and the amount for MOF-d5 at 1 bar is as high as 3.7 wt %. It is nearly 5-6 times of that of MOF-5 as a whole. It can be observed that extra adsorption sites were formed in the pores and the effective occupation rate of pore space was obviously improved viewing from the mCT images. These results may give helpful suggestions for the synthetic experimentalists.     

Molecular simulation of adsorption and diffusion of hydrogen in metal-organic frameworks

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are thought to be a set of promising hydrogen storage materials; however, little is known about the interactions between hydrogen molecules and pore walls as well as the diffusivities of hydrogen in MOFs. In this work, we performed a systematic molecular simulation study on the adsorption and diffusion of hydrogen in MOFs to provide insight into molecular-level details of the underlying mechanisms. This work shows that metal-oxygen clusters are preferential adsorption sites for hydrogen in MOFs, and the effect of the organic linkers becomes evident with increasing pressure. The hydrogen storage capacity of MOFs is similar to carbon nanotubes, which is higher than zeolites. Diffusion of hydrogen in MOFs is an activated process that is similar to diffusion in zeolites. The information derived in this work is useful to guide the future rational design and synthesis of tailored MOF materials with improved hydrogen adsorption capability.     

Effect of Larger Pore Size on the Sorption Properties of Isoreticular Metal–Organic Frameworks with High Number of Open Metal Sites

Four isostructural CPO-54-M metal-organic frameworks based on the larger organic linker 1,5-dihydroxynaphthalene-2,6-dicarboxylic acid and divalent cations (M=Mn, Mg, Ni, Co) are shown to be isoreticular to the CPO-27 (MOF-74) materials. Desolvated CPO-54-Mn contains a very high concentration of open metal sites, which has a pronounced effect on the gas adsorption of N₂, H₂, CO₂ and CO. Initial isosteric heats of adsorption are significantly higher than for MOFs without open metal sites and are slightly higher than for CPO-27. The plateau of high heat of adsorption decreases earlier in CPO-54-Mn as a function of loading per mole than in CPO-27-Mn. Cluster and periodic density functional theory based calculations of the adsorbate structures and energetics show that the larger adsorption energy at low loadings, when only open metal sites are occupied, is mainly due to larger contribution of dispersive interactions for the materials with the larger, more electron rich bridging ligand.     

Tuning the Properties of MOF-808 via Defect Engineering and Metal Nanoparticle Encapsulation

Defect engineering and metal encapsulation are considered as valuable approaches to fine-tune the reactivity of metal–organic frameworks. In this work, various MOF-808 (Zr) samples are synthesized and characterized with the final aim to understand how defects and/or platinum nanoparticle encapsulation act on the intrinsic and reactive properties of these MOFs. The reactivity of the pristine, defective and Pt encapsulated MOF-808 is quantified with water adsorption and CO₂ adsorption calorimetry. The results reveal strong competitive effects between crystal morphology and missing linker defects which in turn affect the crystal morphology, porosity, stability, and reactivity. In spite of leading to a loss in porosity, the introduction of defects (missing linkers or Pt nanoparticles) is beneficial to the stability of the MOF-808 towards water and could also be advantageously used to tune adsorption properties of this MOF family.     

Effects of functionalization, catenation, and variation of the metal oxide and organic linking units on the low-pressure hydrogen adsorption properties of metal-organic frameworks

The dihydrogen adsorption isotherms of eight metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), measured at 77 K up to a pressure of 1 atm, have been examined for correlations with their structural features. All materials display approximately Type I isotherms with no hysteresis, and saturation was not reached for any of the materials under these conditions. Among the six isoreticular MOFs (IRMOFs) studied, the catenated materials exhibit the largest capacities on a molar basis, up to 9.8 H(2) per formula unit. The addition of functional groups (-Br, -NH(2), -C(2)H(4)-) to the phenylene links of IRMOF-1 (MOF-5), or their replacement with thieno[3,2-b]thiophene moieties in IRMOF-20, altered the adsorption behavior by a minor amount despite large variations in the pore volumes of the resulting materials. In contrast, replacement of the metal oxide units with those containing coordinatively unsaturated metal sites resulted in greater H(2) uptake. The enhanced affinities of these materials, MOF-74 and HKUST-1, were further demonstrated by calculation of the isosteric heats of adsorption, which were larger across much of the range of coverage examined, compared to those of representative IRMOFs. The results suggest that under low-loading conditions, the H(2) adsorption behavior of MOFs can be improved by imparting larger charge gradients on the metal oxide units and adjusting the link metrics to constrict the pore dimensions; however, a large pore volume is still a prerequisite feature.     

Effect of NH2 and CF3 functionalization on the hydrogen sorption properties of MOFs

The hydrogen adsorption capacity and heat of adsorption at 77 K have been evaluated for several porous metal terephthalate MOFs (MIL-53(Fe), MIL-125(Ti) and UiO-66(Zr)), as well as in their -NH(2) and -(CF(3))(2) functionalized isoreticular structures. The capacity of hydrogen is basically related to the textural properties of the solids and not to their composition. The heats of adsorption at low coverage are on the whole close to those usually reported for MOFs (6-7 kJ mol(-1)), except for the UiO-66(Zr) and MIL-53(Fe)-(CF(3))(2) analogues, whereas the presence of Lewis acid sites and/or a confinement effect enhances significantly the strength of interaction with hydrogen.     

Confinement effects in the hydrogen adsorption on paddle wheel containing metal-organic frameworks

The confinement effects upon hydrogen adsorption in Cu(II)-paddle wheel containing metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) were evaluated and rationalized in terms of the structural properties (cavity types and pore diameters) of PCN-12, HKUST-1, MOF-505, NOTT-103 and NOTT-112. First-principles calculations were employed to identify the strongest adsorption positions at the paddle wheel inorganic building unit (IBU). The adsorption centres due to confinement were located through analysis of 3D occupancy maps obtained from the hydrogen trajectories computed via molecular dynamics simulations. It was found that the confinement enhances the adsorption on the weakest adsorption centres around the IBU in regions close to the narrowest windows and promotes the formation of new adsorption regions into the small cavities. Our results indicate that at low pressure, the high H(2) uptake in these materials is partly due to the presence of small cavities (5.3-8.5 ?) or narrow windows where the long-range contribution to the adsorption becomes important. Conversely, confinement effects in cavities with diameters >12 ? were not observed.     

Gas adsorption and storage in metal-organic framework MOF-177

Gas adsorption experiments have been carried out on a zinc benzenetribenzoate metal-organic framework material, MOF-177. Hydrogen adsorption on MOF-177 at 298 K and 10 MPa gives an adsorption capacity of approximately 0.62 wt %, which is among the highest hydrogen storage capacities reported in porous materials at ambient temperatures. The heats of adsorption for H2 on MOF-177 were -11.3 to -5.8 kJ/mol. By adding a H2 dissociating catalyst and using our bridge building technique to build carbon bridges for hydrogen spillover, the hydrogen adsorption capacity in MOF-177 was enhanced by a factor of approximately 2.5, to 1.5 wt % at 298 K and 10 MPa, and the adsorption was reversible. N2 and O2 adsorption measurements showed that O2 was adsorbed more favorably than N2 on MOF-177 with a selectivity of approximately 1.8 at 1 atm and 298 K, which makes MOF-177 a promising candidate for air separation. The isotherm was linear for O2 while being concave for N2. Water vapor adsorption studies indicated that MOF-177 adsorbed up to approximately 10 wt % H2O at 298 K. The framework structure of MOF-177 was not stable upon H2O adsorption, which decomposed after exposure to ambient air in 3 days. All the results suggested that MOF-177 could be a potentially promising material for gas separation and storage applications at ambient temperature (under dry conditions or with predrying).     

MOF/graphite oxide hybrid materials: exploring the new concept of adsorbents and catalysts

Two types of metal-organic framework (MOF)/graphite oxide hybrid materials were prepared. One is based on a zinc-containing, MOF-5 and the other on a copper-containing HKUST-1. The materials are characterized by X-ray diffraction, sorption of nitrogen, thermal analyses, Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Their features are compared to the ones of the parent materials. The water stability and ammonia adsorption capacity of the hybrid materials were also evaluated. It was found that the latter compounds exhibit features similar to the ones of the parent MOF. In most cases, their porosity increased compared to the one calculated considering the physical mixture of MOF and GO. This new porosity likely located between the two components of the hybrid materials is responsible for the enhanced ammonia adsorption capacity of the compounds. However, for both the zinc-based and the copper-based materials (MOFs and hybrid materials), a collapse of the framework was observed as a result of ammonia adsorption. This collapse is caused by the interactions of ammonia with the metallic centers of MOFs either by hydrogen bonding (zinc-based materials) or coordination and subsequent complexation (copper-based materials). Whereas the MOF-5 based compounds collapse in presence of humidity, the copper-based materials are stable.     

Synthesis of Chiral MOF-74 Frameworks by Post-Synthetic Modification by Using an Amino Acid

The synthesis of chiral metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is highly relevant for asymmetric heterogenous catalysis, yet very challenging. Chiral MOFs with MOF-74 topology were synthesised by using post-synthetic modification with proline. Vibrational circular dichroism studies demonstrate that proline is the source of chirality. The solvents used in the synthesis play a key role in tuning the loading of proline and its interaction with the MOF-74 framework. In N,N′-dimethylformamide, proline coordinates monodentate to the Zn²⁺ ions within the MOF-74 framework, whereas it is only weakly bound to the framework when using methanol as solvent. Introducing chirality within the MOF-74 framework also leads to the formation of defects, with both the organic linker and metal ions missing from the framework. The formation of defects combined with the coordination of DMF and proline within the framework leads to a pore blocking effect. This is confirmed by adsorption studies and testing of the chiral MOFs in the asymmetric aldol reaction between acetone and para-nitrobenzaldehyde.     

Control of the coordination status of the open metal sites in metal-organic frameworks for high performance separation of polar compounds

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with open metal sites have great potential for enhancing adsorption separation of the molecules with different polarities. However, the elution and separation of polar compounds on such MOFs packed columns using nonpolar solvents is difficult due to too strong interaction between polar compounds and the open metal sites. Here, we report the control of the coordination status of the open metal sites in MOFs by adjusting the content of methanol (MeOH) in the mobile phase for fast and high-resolution separation of polar compounds. To this end, high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of nitroaniline, aminophenol and naphthol isomers, sulfadimidine, and sulfanilamide on the column packed with MIL-101(Cr) possessing open metal sites was performed. The interaction between the open metal sites of MIL-101(Cr) and the polar analytes was adjusted by adding an appropriate amount of MeOH to the mobile phase to achieve the effective separation of the polar analytes due to the competition of MeOH with the analytes for the open metal sites. Fourier transform infrared spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectra confirmed the interaction between MeOH and the open metal sites of MIL-101(Cr). Thermodynamic parameters were measured to evaluate the effect of the content of MeOH in the mobile phase on the separation of polar analytes on MIL-101(Cr) packed column. This approach provides reproducible and high performance separation of polar compounds on the open metal sites-containing MOFs.     

Effect of open metal sites on adsorption of polar and nonpolar molecules in metal-organic framework Cu-BTC

Atomistic grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations were performed in this work to investigate the role of open copper sites of Cu-BTC in affecting the separation of carbon monoxide from binary mixtures containing methane, nitrogen, or hydrogen. Mixtures containing 5%, 50%, or 95% CO were examined. The simulations show that electrostatic interactions between the CO dipole and the partial charges on the metal-organic framework (MOF) atoms dominate the adsorption mechanism. The binary simulations show that Cu-BTC is quite selective for CO over hydrogen and nitrogen for all three mixture compositions at 298 K. The removal of CO from a 5% mixture with methane is slightly enhanced by the electrostatic interactions of CO with the copper sites. However, the pore space of Cu-BTC is large enough to accommodate both molecules at their pure-component loadings, and in general, Cu-BTC exhibits no significant selectivity for CO over methane for the equimolar and 95% mixtures. On the basis of the pure-component and low-concentration behavior of CO, the results indicate that MOFs with open metal sites have the potential for enhancing adsorption separations of molecules of differing polarities, but the pore size relative to the sorbate size will also play a significant role.     

Tuning the hydrogen storage capacity of MOF-650 by Mg2+/Ca2+ substitution and B,N co-doped atoms: Grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation and periodic density functional theory

This study used periodic density functional theory and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the effects of the co-doping of B and N atoms and substituting Zn²⁺ with Mg²⁺ or Ca²⁺ in the organic linker groups of MOF-650. The functionalization increased the polarity of the organic groups, stabilizing the interaction between the MOF and hydrogen molecules. The highest average binding energy of the adsorbed hydrogen in MOF-650 NB-C7-azulene-Mg was calculated to be −4.75 to 5.40 kcal/mol for the α adsorption sites. Using the substitution of NB azulene and metal cations being Mg²⁺ or Ca²⁺, The hydrogen storage capacity of functionalized MOF-650 was increased to 22 mg/g at 90 bar/298 K, implying the modification strategy of MOF-650 would strengthen the interaction between MOF frameworks and hydrogen molecules.     

Significantly enhanced hydrogen storage in metal-organic frameworks via spillover

The utilization of hydrogen in fuel-cell powered vehicles is limited by the lack of a safe and effective system for hydrogen storage. At the present time, there is no viable storage technology capable of meeting the DOE targets. Porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are novel and potential candidates for hydrogen storage. Until now it is still not possible to achieve any significant hydrogen storage capacity in MOFs at ambient temperature. Here, we report, for the first time, significant amounts of hydrogen storage in MOF-5 and IRMOF-8 at ambient temperature by using a very simple technique via hydrogen dissociation and spillover. Thus, hydrogen uptakes for MOF-5 and IRMOF-8 can be enhanced by a factor of 3.3 and 3.1, respectively (to nearly 2 wt % at 10 MPa and 298 K). Furthermore, the isotherms are totally reversible. These findings suggest that our technique is suitable for hydrogen storage in a variety of MOF materials because of their similar structures as MOF-5 and IRMOF-8.     

Hydrogen adsorption in a highly stable porous rare-earth metal-organic framework: sorption properties and neutron diffraction studies

A highly stable porous lanthanide metal-organic framework, Y(BTC)(H2O).4.3H2O (BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate), with pore size of 5.8 A has been constructed and investigated for hydrogen storage. Gas sorption measurements show that this porous MOF exhibits highly selective sorption behaviors of hydrogen over nitrogen gas molecules and can take up hydrogen of about 2.1 wt % at 77 K and 10 bar. Difference Fourier analysis of neutron powder diffraction data revealed four distinct D2 sites that are progressively filled within the nanoporous framework. Interestingly, the strongest adsorption sites identified are associated with the aromatic organic linkers rather than the open metal sites, as occurred in previously reported MOFs. Our results provide for the first time direct structural evidence demonstrating that optimal pore size (around 6 A, twice the kinetic diameter of hydrogen) strengthens the interactions between H2 molecules and pore walls and increases the heat of adsorption, which thus allows for enhancing hydrogen adsorption from the interaction between hydrogen molecules with the pore walls rather than with the normally stronger adsorption sites (the open metal sites) within the framework. At high concentration H2 loadings (5.5 H2 molecules (3.7 wt %) per Y(BTC) formula), H2 molecules form highly symmetric novel nanoclusters with relatively short H2-H2 distances compared to solid H2. These observations are important and hold the key to optimizing this new class of rare metal-organic framework (RMOF) materials for practical hydrogen storage applications.     

Molecular hydrogen "pairing" interaction in a metal organic framework system with unsaturated metal centers (MOF-74)

Infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy measurements of molecular hydrogen in MOF-74-M (M = metal center) are performed as a function of temperature and pressure [to 45 kTorr (60 bar) at 300 K, and at lower pressures in the 20-200 K range] to investigate the nature of H(2) interactions with the unsaturated metal centers. A small shift (～?-30 cm(-1) with respect to the unperturbed H(2) molecule) is observed for the internal stretch frequency of H(2) molecules adsorbed on the metal site at low loading. This finding is in contrast to much larger shifts (～?-70 cm(-1)) observed in previous studies of MOFs with unsaturated metal centers (including MOF-74) and the general assumption that H(2) stretch shifts depend on adsorption energies (FitzGerald et al., Phys. Rev. B 2010, 81, 104305). We show that larger shifts (～?-70 cm(-1)) do occur, but only when the next available site ("oxygen" site) is occupied. This larger shift originates from H(2)-H(2) interactions on neighboring sites of the same pore, consistent with the short distance between H(2) in these two sites ～2.6 ? derived from an analysis of neutron diffraction experiments of D(2)-D(2) at 4 K (Liu et al., Langmuir 2008, 24, 4772-4777). Our results at 77 K and low loading can be explained by a diffusion barrier against pair disruption, which should be enhanced by this interaction. Calculations indicate that the vibrational shifts do not correlate with binding energies and are instead very sensitive to the environment (interaction potential and H(2)-H(2) interactions), which complicates the use of variable temperature IR methods to calculate adsorption energies of specific adsorption sites.