Efficient storage and delivery of dihydrogen remains a central challenge to the implementation of fuel cell technology in vehicles and mobile devices. The viability of microporous materials to serve this role has been widely investigated, and spurred on by the recent discovery of crystalline coordination frameworks with very large surface areas. Concurrently, a variety of spectroscopic and diffraction techniques have been creatively adapted to examine the dynamics of adsorbed H2. Despite a growing wealth of evidence for the sequential site-filling model, which describes interactions between adsorbed H2 molecules as relatively weak, a new description of the behavior of this adsorbate has been proposed that involves strong pairing interactions. Using low temperature diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy coupled with quantitative manometry, we have examined the quantum dynamics of H2 and its isotopologues in several materials to test the validity of these models. Our results support the original sequential site-filling model, providing no evidence for an H2-H2 pairing mechanism. Irreproducibility in sample preparation may be at the root of this controversy, and will be discussed.

Tracking H<sub>2</sub> in microporous adsorbents

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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Tracking H2 in microporous adsorbents

Tracking H₂ in microporous adsorbents