Metal-organic frameworks have received significant attention as a new class of adsorbents for natural gas storage; however, inconsistencies in reporting high-pressure adsorption data and a lack of comparative studies have made it challenging to evaluate both new and existing materials. Here, we will briefly review efforts to develop metal-organic frameworks with high methane storage capacities. To illustrate the most important properties for evaluating adsorbents for natural gas storage and for designing a next generation of improved materials, six metal-organic frameworks and an activated carbon, with a range of surface areas, pore structures, and surface chemistries representative of the most promising adsorbents for methane storage, were studied. High-pressure methane adsorption isotherms will be used to compare gravimetric and volumetric capacities, isosteric heats of adsorption, and usable storage capacities. Additionally, the relative importance of increasing volumetric capacity, rather than gravimetric capacity, for extending the driving range of natural gas vehicles will be emphasized. Other important systems-level factors, including thermal management, mechanical properties, and the effects of impurities, will also be considered, and potential materials synthesis contributions to improving performance in a complete adsorbed natural gas system will be briefly discussed. In this context, a new strategy for increasing volumetric usable methane capacity will be presented and discussed in detail, using a pyrazolate-based metal-organic framework to illustrate the benefits of this approach.

Metal-organic frameworks for natural gas storage

249th National Meeting (2015)

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