Browsing by Author "Yildirim, T"

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    Hydrogen adsorption in HKUST-1: a combined inelastic neutron scattering and first-principles study
    (Institute of Physics, 2009-05-20) Brown, CM; Liu, Y; Yildirim, T; Peterson, VK; Kepert, CJ
    Hydrogen adsorption in high surface area nanoporous coordination polymers has attracted a great deal of interest in recent years due to the potential applications in energy storage. Here we present combined inelastic neutron scattering measurements and detailed first-principles calculations aimed at unraveling the nature of hydrogen adsorption in HKUST-1 (Cu-3(1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate)(2)), a metal-organic framework (MOF) with unsaturated metal centers. We reveal that, in this system, the major contribution to the overall binding comes from the classical Coulomb interaction which is not screened due to the open metal site; this explains the relatively high binding energies and short H-2-metal distances observed in MOFs with exposed metal sites as compared to traditional ones. Despite the short distances, there is no indication of an elongation of the H-H bond for the bound H-2 molecule at the metal site. We find that both the phonon and rotational energy levels of the hydrogen molecule are closely similar, making the interpretation of the inelastic neutron scattering data difficult. Finally, we show that the orientation of H-2 has a surprisingly large effect on the binding potential, reducing the classical binding energy by almost 30%. The implication of these results for the development of MOF materials for better hydrogen storage is discussed. © 2009, Institute of Physics
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    Metal-organic frameworks with exceptionally high methane uptake: where and how is methane stored?
    (Wiley-VCH Verlag Berlin, 2010-05-03) Wu, H; Simmons, JM; Liu, Y; Brown, CM; Wang, XS; Ma, S; Peterson, VK; Southon, PD; Kepert, CJ; Zhou, HC; Yildirim, T; Zhou, W
    Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a novel family of physisorptive materials that have exhibited great promise for methane storage. So far, a detailed understanding of their methane adsorption mechanism is still scarce. Herein, we report a comprehensive mechanistic study of methane storage in three milestone MOF compounds (HKUST-1, PCN-11, and PCN-14) the CH4 storage capacities of which are among the highest reported so far among all porous materials. The three MOFs consist of the same dicopper paddlewheel secondary building units, but contain different organic linkers, leading to cagelike pores with various sizes and geometries. From neutron powder diffraction experiments and accurate data analysis, assisted by grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations and DFT calculations, we anambiguously revealed the exact locations of the stored methane molecules in these MOF materials. We found that methane uptake takes place primarily at two types of strong adsorption site: 1) the open Cu coordination sites, which exhibit enhanced Coulomb attraction toward methane, and 2) the van der Waals potential pocket sites, in which the total dispersive interactions are enhanced due to the molecule being in contact with multiple “surfaces”. Interestingly, the enhanced van der Waals sites are present exclusively in small cages and at the windows to these cages, whereas large cages with relatively flat pore surfaces bind very little methane. Our results suggest that further, rational development of new MOF compounds for methane storage applications should focus on enriching open metal sites, increasing the volume percentage of accessible small cages and channels, and minimizing the fraction of large pores. © 2010, Wiley-VCH Verlag Berlin