New materials capable of storing hydrogen at high capacities and near ambient temperatures are essential to realize on-board storage systems for hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles. Microporous metal–organic frameworks are considered to be some of the best candidates for transportation applications because their structures and functionalities can be readily tuned. We have demonstrated that high surface area metal–organic frameworks exhibit excellent storage properties, albeit at cryogenic temperatures. To further increase the hydrogen storage capacity of select metal–organic frameworks, we pursue a promising strategy to introduce structural coordinatively-unsaturated metal centers that may be capable of binding multiple gas molecules. The effectiveness of this approach is demonstrated in the synthesis of microporous metal–organic frameworks with a large enthalpy of adsorption for hydrogen. In situ infrared spectroscopy is further illustrated as an excellent experimental probe that affords site-specific information for hydrogen adsorption.

Hydrogen storage in metal-organic frameworks

255th National Meeting (2018)

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