High Volumetric Hydrogen Adsorption in a Porous Anthracene-Decorated Metal-Organic Framework.

We report an unprecedented ligand-based binding domain for D2 within a porous metal-organic framework (MOF) material as confirmed by neutron powder diffraction studies of D2-loaded MFM-132a. A tight pocket of 6 Å diameter is formed by the close packing of three anthracene panels, and it is here rather than the open metal sites where D2 binds preferentially. As a result, MFM-132a shows exceptional volumetric hydrogen adsorption (52 g L-1 at 60 bar and 77 K) and the highest density of adsorbed H2 within its pores among all the porous materials reported to date under the same conditions. This work points to a new direction for H2 storage in porous materials using polyaromatic ligand-based sites.

Porous Metal-Organic Polyhedral Frameworks with Optimal Molecular Dynamics and Pore Geometry for Methane Storage.

Natural gas (methane, CH4) is widely considered as a promising energy carrier for mobile applications. Maximizing the storage capacity is the primary goal for the design of future storage media. Here we report the CH4 storage properties in a family of isostructural (3,24)-connected porous materials, MFM-112a, MFM-115a, and MFM-132a, with different linker backbone functionalization. Both MFM-112a and MFM-115a show excellent CH4 uptakes of 236 and 256 cm3 (STP) cm-3 (v/v) at 80 bar and room temperature, respectively. Significantly, MFM-115a displays an exceptionally high deliverable CH4 capacity of 208 v/v between 5 and 80 bar at room temperature, making it among the best performing metal-organic frameworks for CH4 storage. We also synthesized the partially deuterated versions of the above materials and applied solid-state 2H NMR spectroscopy to show that these three frameworks contain molecular rotors that exhibit motion in fast, medium, and slow regimes, respectively. In situ neutron powder diffraction studies on the binding sites for CD4 within MFM-132a and MFM-115a reveal that the primary binding site is located within the small pocket enclosed by the [(Cu2)3(isophthalate)3] window and three anthracene/phenyl panels. The open Cu(II) sites are the secondary/tertiary adsorption sites in these structures. Thus, we obtained direct experimental evidence showing that a tight cavity can generate a stronger binding affinity to gas molecules than open metal sites. Solid-state 2H NMR spectroscopy and neutron diffraction studies reveal that it is the combination of optimal molecular dynamics, pore geometry and size, and favorable binding sites that leads to the exceptional and different methane uptakes in these materials.

Tailoring porosity and rotational dynamics in a series of octacarboxylate metal-organic frameworks.

Modulation and precise control of porosity of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is of critical importance to their materials function. Here we report modulation of porosity for a series of isoreticular octacarboxylate MOFs, denoted MFM-180 to MFM-185, via a strategy of selective elongation of metal-organic cages. Owing to the high ligand connectivity, these MOFs do not show interpenetration, and are robust structures that have permanent porosity. Interestingly, activated MFM-185a shows a high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 4,734 m2 g-1 for an octacarboxylate MOF. These MOFs show remarkable CH4 and CO2 adsorption properties, notably with simultaneously high gravimetric and volumetric deliverable CH4 capacities of 0.24 g g-1 and 163 vol/vol (298 K, 5-65 bar) recorded for MFM-185a due to selective elongation of tubular cages. The dynamics of molecular rotors in deuterated MFM-180a-d16 and MFM-181a-d16 were investigated by variable-temperature 2H solid-state NMR spectroscopy to reveal the reorientation mechanisms within these materials. Analysis of the flipping modes of the mobile phenyl groups, their rotational rates, and transition temperatures paves the way to controlling and understanding the role of molecular rotors through design of organic linkers within porous MOF materials.

Non-Interpenetrated Metal-Organic Frameworks Based on Copper(II) Paddlewheel and Oligoparaxylene-Isophthalate Linkers: Synthesis, Structure, and Gas Adsorption.

Two metal-organic framework materials, MFM-130 and MFM-131 (MFM = Manchester Framework Material), have been synthesized using two oligoparaxylene (OPX) tetracarboxylate linkers containing four and five aromatic rings, respectively. Both fof-type non-interpenetrated networks contain Kagomé lattice layers comprising [Cu2(COO)4] paddlewheel units and isophthalates, which are pillared by the OPX linkers. Desolvated MFM-130, MFM-130a, shows permanent porosity (BET surface area of 2173 m(2)/g, pore volume of 1.0 cm(3)/g), high H2 storage capacity at 77 K (5.3 wt% at 20 bar and 2.2 wt% at 1 bar), and a higher CH4 adsorption uptake (163 cm(3)(STP)/cm(3) (35 bar and 298 K)) compared with its structural analogue, NOTT-103. MFM-130a also shows impressive selective adsorption of C2H2, C2H4, and C2H6 over CH4 at room temperature, indicating its potential for separation of C2 hydrocarbons from CH4. The single-crystal structure of MFM-131 confirms that the methyl substituents of the paraxylene units block the windows in the Kagomé lattice layer of the framework, effectively inhibiting network interpenetration in MFM-131. This situation is to be contrasted with that of the doubly interpenetrated oligophenylene analogue, NOTT-104. Calculation of the mechanical properties of these two MOFs confirms and explains the instability of MFM-131 upon desolvation in contrast to the behavior of MFM-130. The incorporation of paraxylene units, therefore, provides an efficient method for preventing network interpenetration as well as accessing new functional materials with modified and selective sorption properties for gas substrates.

Interpenetration, porosity, and high-pressure gas adsorption in Zn4O(2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate)3.

Microporous coordination polymers (MCPs) have emerged as strong contenders for adsorption-based fuel storage and delivery in large part because of their high specific surface areas. The strategy of increasing surface area by increasing organic linker length has shown only sporadic success; as demonstrated by many members of the iconic Zn4O-based IRMOF series, for example, accessible porosity is often limited by interpenetration or pore collapse upon guest removal. In this work, we focus on Zn4O(ndc)3 (IRMOF-8, ndc = 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylate), which exhibits typical surface areas of only 1000-2000 m(2)/g even though a surface area of more than 4000 m(2)/g is expected from geometric analysis of the originally reported crystal structure. We recently showed that a high surface area could be produced with zinc and ndc by room-temperature synthesis followed by activation with flowing supercritical CO2. In this work, we investigate in detail the porosity of both the low- and high-surface-area materials. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) is used to show that the low-surface-area material suffers from near-complete interpenetration, explaining why traditional synthetic routes have failed to yield materials with the expected porosity. Furthermore, the high-pressure hydrogen and methane sorption properties of noninterpenetrated Zn4O(ndc)3 are examined, and PALS is used to show that pore filling is not operative during room-temperature CH4 sorption even at pressures approaching 100 bar. These results provide insight into how gas adsorbs in high-surface-area materials at high pressure and reinforce previous contentions that increasing surface area alone is not sufficient for the simultaneous optimization of deliverable gravimetric and volumetric gas uptake in MCPs.

Mesoporous metal and metal alloy particles synthesized by aerosol-assisted confined growth of nanocrystals.

From droplets to "spheres": A platform technology enables the rapid and continuous synthesis of mesoporous metal and metal alloy particles (see picture). The confined growth of nanocrystals in aerosol droplets leads to the formation of these particles with defined composition.

Saturation properties of a supercritical gas sorbed in nanoporous materials.

The description of experimental gas adsorption data in terms of an accurate model is key to understand the adsorption mechanism and its limits. As a basic feature such a model should predict correctly the conditions under which saturation occurs. However, in the absence of bulk condensation properties for a supercritical adsorbate this matter remains open to discussions. In this study, the decreasing region of excess hydrogen adsorption isotherms measured down to 50 K is used to determine the adsorbed phase volume, density and pressure corresponding to saturation. The experimental method developed for these key measurements addresses the challenges of very low temperature adsorption measurements at high pressure. Therefore, the modifications specially made to a cryostat used in conjunction with a Sievert apparatus to reach high temperature stability (±10 mK) down to 40 K are presented. The approach is implemented on the novel nanoporous materials UMCM-1 and NOTT-112 over 50-77 K and 0-40 bar. The derived hydrogen saturation properties are found to be consistent with a Dubinin-Astakhov model. Importantly, the measured adsorbed hydrogen phase volume also compares well with the pore volume obtained from Ar porosimetry. The found saturation properties provide a physical basis to calculate consistent absolute adsorption isotherms and enthalpies, and to project the ultimate adsorption capacity of a conceptual material with a maximized specific surface area. The present findings provide additional evidence that the common view on supercritical adsorption, in which it is assumed that no liquid is formed and that the only possible mechanism involves monolayer coverage, does not hold in many nanoporous materials.

Modifying cage structures in metal-organic polyhedral frameworks for H2 storage.

Three isostructural metal-organic polyhedral cage based frameworks (denoted NOTT-113, NOTT-114 and NOTT-115) with (3,24)-connected topology have been synthesised by combining hexacarboxylate isophthalate linkers with {Cu(2)(RCOO)(4)} paddlewheels. All three frameworks have the same cuboctahedral cage structure constructed from 24 isophthalates from the ligands and 12 {Cu(2)(RCOO)(4)} paddlewheel moieties. The frameworks differ only in the functionality of the central core of the hexacarboxylate ligands with trimethylphenyl, phenylamine and triphenylamine moieties in NOTT-113, NOTT-114 and NOTT-115, respectively. Exchange of pore solvent with acetone followed by heating affords the corresponding desolvated framework materials, which show high BET surface areas of 2970, 3424 and 3394 m(2) g(-1) for NOTT-113, NOTT-114 and NOTT-115, respectively. Desolvated NOTT-113 and NOTT-114 show high total H(2) adsorption capacities of 6.7 and 6.8 wt%, respectively, at 77 K and 60 bar. Desolvated NOTT-115 has a significantly higher total H(2) uptake of 7.5 wt% under the same conditions. Analysis of the heats of adsorption (Q(st)) for H(2) reveals that with a triphenylamine moiety in the cage wall, desolvated NOTT-115 shows the highest value of Q(st) for these three materials, indicating that functionalisation of the cage walls with more aromatic rings can enhance the H(2)/framework interactions. In contrast, measurement of Q(st) reveals that the amine-substituted trisalkynylbenzene core used in NOTT-114 gives a notably lower H(2)/framework binding energy.

Gas and liquid phase adsorption in isostructural Cu3[biaryltricarboxylate]2 microporous coordination polymers.

N-Heteroarene substitution into biphenyl-based linkers enhances the uptake of electron-rich organosulfur molecules in a series of isostructural microporous coordination polymers.

Linker-directed vertex desymmetrization for the production of coordination polymers with high porosity.

Five non-interpenetrated microporous coordination polymers (MCPs) are derived by vertex desymmetrization using linkers with symmetry inequivalent coordinating groups, and these MCPs include properties such as rare metal clusters, new network topologies, and supramolecular isomerism. Gas sorption in polymorphic frameworks, UMCM-152 and UMCM-153 (based upon a copper-coordinated tetracarboxylated triphenylbenzene linker), reveals nearly identical properties with BET surface areas in the range of 3300-3500 m(2)/g and excess hydrogen uptake of 5.7 and 5.8 wt % at 77 K. In contrast, adsorption of organosulfur compounds dibenzothiophene (DBT) and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (DMDBT) shows remarkably different capacities, providing direct evidence that liquid-phase adsorption is not solely dependent on surface area or linker/metal cluster identity. Structural features present in MCPs derived from these reduced symmetry linkers include the presence of more than one type of Cu-paddlewheel in a structure derived from a terphenyl tricarboxylate (UMCM-151) and a three-bladed zinc paddlewheel metal cluster in an MCP derived from a pentacarboxylated triphenylbenzene linker (UMCM-154).

Metal-organic polyhedral frameworks: high h(2) adsorption capacities and neutron powder diffraction studies.

Neutron powder diffraction experiments on D(2)-loaded NOTT-112 reveal that the axial sites of exposed Cu(II) ions in the smallest cuboctahedral cages are the first, strongest binding sites for D(2) leading to an overall discrimination between the two types of exposed Cu(II) sites at the paddlewheel nodes. Thus, the Cu(II) centers within the cuboctahedral cage are the first sites of D(2) binding with a Cu-D(2) distance of 2.23(1) A.

Synthesis and hydrogen storage properties of Be(12)(OH)(12)(1,3,5-benzenetribenzoate)(4).

The first crystalline beryllium-based metal-organic framework has been synthesized and found to exhibit an exceptional surface area useful for hydrogen storage. Reaction of 1,3,5-benzenetribenzoic acid (H(3)BTB) and beryllium nitrate in a mixture of DMSO, DMF, and water at 130 degrees C for 10 days affords the solvated form of Be(12)(OH)(12)(1,3,5-benzenetribenzoate)(4) (1). Its highly porous framework structure consists of unprecedented saddle-shaped [Be(12)(OH)(12)](12+) rings connected through tritopic BTB(3-) ligands to generate a 3,12 net. Compound 1 exhibits a BET surface area of 4030 m(2)/g, the highest value yet reported for any main group metal-organic framework or covalent organic framework. At 77 K, the H(2) adsorption data for 1 indicate a fully reversible uptake of 1.6 wt % at 1 bar, with an initial isosteric heat of adsorption of -5.5 kJ/mol. At pressures up to 100 bar, the data show the compound to serve as an exceptional hydrogen storage material, reaching a total uptake of 9.2 wt % and 44 g/L at 77 K and of 2.3 wt % and 11 g/L at 298 K. It is expected that reaction conditions similar to those reported here may enable the synthesis of a broad new family of beryllium-based frameworks with extremely high surface areas.

On the nature of the adsorbed hydrogen phase in microporous metal-organic frameworks at supercritical temperatures.

Hydrogen adsorption measurements on different metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) over the 0-60 bar range at 50 and 77 K are presented. The results are discussed with respect to the materials' surface area and thermodynamic properties of the adsorbed phase. A nearly linear correlation between the maximum hydrogen excess amount adsorbed and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area was evidenced at both temperatures. Such a trend suggests that the adsorbed phase on the different materials is similar in nature. This interpretation is supported by measurements of the adsorbed hydrogen phase properties near saturation at 50 K. In particular it was found that the adsorbed hydrogen consistently exhibits liquid state properties despite significant structural and chemical differences between the tested adsorbents. This behavior is viewed as a consequence of molecular confinement in nanoscale pores. The variability in the trend relating the surface area and the amount of hydrogen adsorbed could be explained by differences in the adsorbed phase densities. Importantly, the latter were found to lie in the known range of bulk liquid hydrogen densities. The chemical composition and structure (e.g., pore size) were found to influence mainly how adsorption isotherms increase as a function of pressure. Finally, the absolute isotherms were calculated on the basis of measured adsorbed phase volumes, allowing for an estimation of the total amounts of hydrogen that can be stored in the microporous volumes at 50 K. These amounts were found to reach values up to 25% higher than their excess counterparts, and to correlate with the BET surface areas. The measurements and analysis in this study provide new insights on supercritical adsorption, as well as on possible limitations and optimization paths for MOFs as hydrogen storage materials.

Thermodynamics of hydrogen adsorption in MOF-177 at low temperatures: measurements and modelling.

Hydrogen adsorption measurements and modelling for the Zn-based microporous metal-organic framework (MOF) Zn4O(1,3,5-benzenetribenzoate)2, MOF-177, were performed over the 50-77 K and 0-40 bar ranges. The maximum excess adsorption measured under these conditions varies over about 105-70 mg g(-1). An analysis of the isotherms near saturation shows that hydrogen is ultimately adsorbed in an incompressible phase whose density is comparable to that of the bulk liquid. These liquid state properties observed under supercritical conditions reveal a remarkable effect of nanoscale confinement. The entire set of adsorption isotherms can be well described using a micropore filling model. The latter is used, in particular, to determine the absolute amounts adsorbed and the adsorption enthalpy. When expressed in terms of absolute adsorption, the isotherms show considerable hydrogen storage capacities, reaching up to 125 mg g(-1) at 50 K and 25 bar. The adsorption enthalpies are calculated as a function of fractional filling and range from 3 to 5 kJ mol(-1) in magnitude, in accordance with physisorption. These results are discussed with respect to a similar analysis performed on another Zn-based MOF, Zn4O(1,4-benzenedicarboxylate)3, IRMOF-1, presented recently. It is found that both materials adsorb hydrogen by similar mechanisms.

Enhancement of H2 adsorption in coordination framework materials by use of ligand curvature.

Solvothermal reaction of the ligands H(4)L(110) ((2,7-phenanthrenediyl)diisophthalic acid) and H(4)L(111) ([2,7-(9,10-dihydrophenanthrenediyl)]diisophthalic acid) with Cu(NO(3))(2) x 2.5 H(2)O in a slightly acidified mixture of DMF/1,4-dioxane/H(2)O afforded the solvated framework compounds [Cu(2)(L(110))(H(2)O)(2)](DMF)(7.5)(H(2)O)(5) (NOTT-110) and [Cu(2)(L(111))(H(2)O)(2)](DMF)(7.5)(H(2)O)(5) (NOTT-111), respectively. Crystal structure determinations confirmed that NOTT-110 and NOTT-111 have the same NbO framework structure, differing only at the 9 and 10 positions of the phenanthrene group. The BET surface areas for desolvated NOTT-110 and NOTT-111 were estimated to be 2960 and 2930 m(2) g(-1), respectively. Compared with their phenyl analogues, introduction of phenanthrene groups to these porous Cu(II)-carboxylate framework materials leads to an enhancement of H(2) adsorption. Thus, the H(2) isotherms for desolvated NOTT-110 and NOTT-111 confirm 2.64 and 2.56 wt % total H(2) uptake, respectively, at 1 bar and 78 K. NOTT-110 shows a high total H(2) storage capacity of 7.62 wt % at 55 bar and 77 K (8.5 wt % at saturation) with a total volumetric capacity of 46.8 g L(-1) at 55 bar and 77 K.

Exceptionally high H2 storage by a metal-organic polyhedral framework.

The desolvated polyhedral framework material NOTT-112 shows an excess H(2) uptake of 7.07 wt% between 35 and 40 bar at 77 K, and a total H(2) uptake of 10 wt% at 77 bar and 77 K.

High capacity hydrogen adsorption in Cu(II) tetracarboxylate framework materials: the role of pore size, ligand functionalization, and exposed metal sites.

A series of isostructural metal-organic framework polymers of composition [Cu2(L)(H2O)2] (L= tetracarboxylate ligands), denoted NOTT-nnn, has been synthesized and characterized. Single crystal X-ray structures confirm the complexes to contain binuclear Cu(II) paddlewheel nodes each bridged by four carboxylate centers to give a NbO-type network of 64.82 topology. These complexes are activated by solvent exchange with acetone coupled to heating cycles under vacuum to afford the desolvated porous materials NOTT-100 to NOTT-109. These incorporate a vacant coordination site at each Cu(II) center and have large pore volumes that contribute to the observed high H2 adsorption. Indeed, NOTT-103 at 77 K and 60 bar shows a very high total H2 adsorption of 77.8 mg g(-)- equivalent to 7.78 wt% [wt% = (weight of adsorbed H2)/(weight of host material)] or 7.22 wt% [wt% = 100(weight of adsorbed H2)/(weight of host material + weight of adsorbed H2)]. Neutron powder diffraction studies on NOTT-101 reveal three adsorption sites for this material: at the exposed Cu(II) coordination site, at the pocket formed by three {Cu2} paddle wheels, and at the cusp of three phenyl rings. Systematic virial analysis of the H2 isotherms suggests that the H2 binding energies at these sites are very similar and the differences are smaller than 1.0 kJ mol-1, although the adsorption enthalpies for H2 at the exposed Cu(II) site are significantly affected by pore metrics. Introducing methyl groups or using kinked ligands to create smaller pores can enhance the isosteric heat of adsorption and improve H2 adsorption. However, although increasing the overlap of potential energy fields of pore walls increases the heat of H2 adsorption at low pressure, it may be detrimental to the overall adsorption capacity by reducing the pore volume.

Structure and charge control in metal-organic frameworks based on the tetrahedral ligand tetrakis(4-tetrazolylphenyl)methane.

Use of the tetrahedral ligand tetrakis(4-tetrazolylphenyl)methane enabled isolation of two three-dimensional metal-organic frameworks featuring 4,6- and 4,8-connected nets related to the structures of garnet and fluorite with the formulae Mn(6)(ttpm)(3)5 DMF3 H(2)O (1) and Cu[(Cu(4)Cl)(ttpm)(2)](2)CuCl(2)5 DMF11 H(2)O (2) (H(4)ttpm=tetrakis(4-tetrazolylphenyl)methane). The fluorite-type solid 2 displays an unprecedented post-synthetic transformation in which the negative charge of the framework is reduced by extraction of copper(II) chloride. Desolvation of this compound generates Cu(4)(ttpm)(2)0.7 CuCl(2) (2 d), a microporous material exhibiting a high surface area and significant hydrogen uptake.

Reversible structural transition in MIL-53 with large temperature hysteresis.

The metal-organic framework, MIL-53, can have a structural transition from an open-pored to a closed-pored structure by adsorbing different guest molecules. The aid of guest molecules is believed to be necessary to initiate this "breathing" effect. Using both neutron powder diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering techniques, we find that MIL-53 exhibits a reversible structural transition between an open-pored and a closed-pored structure as a function of temperature without the presence of any guest molecules. Surprisingly, this structural transition shows a significant temperature hysteresis: the transition from the open-pored to closed-pored structure occurs at approximately 125 to 150 K, while the transition from the closed-pored to open-pored structure occurs around 325 to 375 K. To our knowledge, this is first observation of such a large temperature hysteresis of a structural transition in metal-organic frameworks. We also note that the transition from the open to closed structure at low temperature shows very slow kinetics. An ab initio computer simulation is employed to investigate the possible mechanism of the transition.

Expanded sodalite-type metal-organic frameworks: increased stability and H(2) adsorption through ligand-directed catenation.

The torsion between the central benzene ring and the outer aromatic rings in 1,3,5-tri-p-(tetrazol-5-yl)phenylbenzene (H3TPB-3tz) and the absence of such strain in 2,4,6-tri-p-(tetrazol-5-yl)phenyl-s-triazine (H3TPT-3tz) are shown to allow the selective synthesis of noncatenated and catenated versions of expanded sodalite-type metal-organic frameworks. The reaction of H3TPB-3tz with CuCl2.2H2O affords the noncatenated compound Cu3[(Cu4Cl)3(TPB-3tz)8]2.11CuCl2.8H2O.120DMF (2), while the reaction of H3TPT-3tz with MnCl2.4H2O or CuCl2.2H2O generates the catenated compounds Mn3[(Mn4Cl)3(TPT-3tz)8]2.25H2O.15CH3OH.95DMF (3) and Cu3[(Cu4Cl)3(TPT-3tz)8]2.xsolvent (4). Significantly, catenation helps to stabilize the framework toward collapse upon desolvation, leading to an increase in the surface area from 1120 to 1580 m2/g and an increase in the hydrogen storage capacity from 2.8 to 3.7 excess wt % at 77 K for 2 and 3, respectively. The total hydrogen uptake in desolvated 3 reaches 4.5 wt % and 37 g/L at 80 bar and 77 K, demonstrating that control of catenation can be an important factor in the generation of hydrogen storage materials.