The development of adsorbent materials for long-term hydrogen storage is a research challenge which requires new approaches for linking sorbent design, and systems engineering and market analysis. Techno-economic analysis and environmental assessments are tools that can provide insights into potential cost and carbon reduction performance in energy storage technologies, but are often time, data, and labor intensive. Due to limited data availability at the systems level, and the vast number of possible adsorbent materials requiring screening, new methods are needed to evaluate adsorbent materials for H<sub>2</sub> storage applications. Here we present a research gap analysis focused on tools and techniques necessary for a bench–to–market analysis of advanced porous materials (APMs). APMs are a class of materials undergoing continuous development for a multitude of applications including gas storage. We are interested in these materials due to their high degree of tunability, and for their ability to achieve high porosity (metal–organic frameworks) and stability (covalent organic frameworks and porous polymer networks). Here, we showcase a reverse engineering model that can take desired costs and outcomes of a H<sub>2</sub> storage system and calculate the metal–organic framework (MOF) storage capacity and associated material-level properties necessary. We then study the sensitivity of these results through the use of different optimization algorithms to better understand the mechanism of calculations. Further development of these methods, and the design of new analytical techniques requires close collaboration between scientists developing new lab-scale materials and those doing systems analysis. We therefore highlight potential challenges and best practices for model development and data sharing, and suggest future directions for continuing innovation.

Addressing research gaps between lab-scale adsorbent material development and systems analysis

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.