Enthalpy-Entropy Correlation for Hydrogen Adsorption on MOFs: Variable-Temperature FTIR Study of Hydrogen Adsorption on MIL-100(Cr) and MIL-101(Cr)

A Step Forward in Understanding the Hydrogen Adsorption and Compression on Activated Carbons

Hydrogen adsorption on activated carbons (ACs) is a promising alternative to compression and liquefaction for storing hydrogen. Herein, we have studied hydrogen adsorption on six commercial ACs (CACs) with surface areas ranging from 996 to 2216 m² g^-1 in a temperature range of 77 to 273 K and pressures up to 15 MPa. Excess hydrogen adsorption capacities of 2.3 to 5.8 wt % were obtained at 77 K and 4 MPa. We demonstrated that, contrary to what is normally done, hydrogen capacity is more accurately predicted by the surface area determined by the nonlocal density functional theory method applied to N₂ and CO₂ adsorption data than by the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) area. The modified Dubinin-Astakhov (MDA) equation was used to fit the experimental adsorption data, and the relationship between the MDA parameters (n_max, V_a, α, and β) and the textural properties of the CACs was determined for the first time. We concluded that the n_max and V_a parameters are related to the BET area, while the α and β parameters are related to the average micropore size and total pore volume, respectively. α and β were used to evaluate the enthalpy and entropy of adsorption and we show that these parameters can be used to assess the best carbon for hydrogen storage or compression.

Density Functionals for Hydrogen Storage: Defining the H2Bind275 Test Set with Ab Initio Benchmarks and Assessment of 55 Functionals

Efficient and high-capacity storage materials are indispensable for a hydrogen-based economy. In silico tools can accelerate the process of discovery of new adsorbent materials with optimal hydrogen adsorption enthalpies. Density functional theory is well-poised to become a very useful tool for enabling high-throughput screening of potential materials. In this work, we have identified density functional approximations that provide good performance for hydrogen binding applications following a two-pronged approach. First, we have compiled a data set (H2Bind275) that comprehensively represents the hydrogen binding problem capturing the chemical and mechanistic diversity in the binding sites encountered in hydrogen storage materials. We have also computed reference interaction energies for this data set using coupled-cluster theory. Second, we have assessed the performance of 55 density functional approximations for predicting H₂ interaction energies and have identified two hybrid density functionals (ωB97X-V and ωB97M-V), two double hybrid density functionals (DSD-PBEPBE-D3(BJ) and PBE0-DH), and one semilocal density functional (B97M-V) as the best performing ones. We have recommended the addition of empirical dispersion corrections to systematically underbinding density functionals such as revPBE, BLYP, and B3LYP for improvements in performance at negligible additional cost. We have also recommended the usage of the def2-TZVPP basis set as it represents a good compromise between accuracy and cost, limiting the finite basis set errors to less than 1 kJ/mol.

Spectroscopy, microscopy, diffraction and scattering of archetypal MOFs: formation, metal sites in catalysis and thin films

A comprehensive overview of characterization tools for the analysis of well-known metal–organic frameworks and physico-chemical phenomena associated to their applications.

Theoretical insight into the BH3·HCN adsorption on the Co(100) and Co(110) surfaces as hydrogen storage

Fifteen configurations and adsorption energies of the adsorption sites of BH₃∙∙∙HCN on Co(100) and Co(110) surfaces were investigated using the density functional theory. The results show that after BH₃∙∙∙HCN is adsorbed, although there is no general behavior for the H∙∙∙H distances, the adsorption energies of BH₃∙∙∙HCN are always far stronger than those of H₂ on Co surfaces, suggesting that the dihydrogen-bonded complex, one kind of prospective material for reversible hydrogen storage, can be tightly adsorbed on the surfaces of metals. Thus, the attempts to store the significant amounts of H₂ can be successful by the way that the dihydrogen-bonded complexes are adsorbed on the surfaces of metals. The stability and binding mechanism was analyzed by the Mulliken charge population and reduced density gradients (RDGs) methods. Graphical Abstract BH₃···HCN adsorption on Co surface.

Probing zeolites by vibrational spectroscopies

This review addresses the most relevant aspects of vibrational spectroscopies (IR, Raman and INS) applied to zeolites and zeotype materials. Surface Brønsted and Lewis acidity and surface basicity are treated in detail. The role of probe molecules and the relevance of tuning both the proton affinity and the steric hindrance of the probe to fully understand and map the complex site population present inside microporous materials are critically discussed. A detailed description of the methods needed to precisely determine the IR absorption coefficients is given, making IR a quantitative technique. The thermodynamic parameters of the adsorption process that can be extracted from a variable-temperature IR study are described. Finally, cutting-edge space- and time-resolved experiments are reviewed. All aspects are discussed by reporting relevant examples. When available, the theoretical literature related to the reviewed experimental results is reported to support the interpretation of the vibrational spectra on an atomic level.

H2 interaction with divalent cations in isostructural MOFs: a key study for variable temperature infrared spectroscopy

Systematic studies of H2 adsorption by variable temperature infrared (VTIR) spectroscopy have added value in the characterization of hydrogen storage materials. As a key study to describe the potential of the method, here we report VTIR spectroscopy results of H2 adsorption at isostructural MOFs CPO-27-M (M = Mg, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn). The strongest perturbation of H2 vibrational frequency is due to the interaction with an open metal site. Although ionic radius is an empirical value, the direct correlation between ionic radii of the metal cation and H2 interaction energy is found in MOFs of the same topology. The highest enthalpy of hydrogen adsorption 15 ± 1 kJ mol(-1) was found for Ni(2+). VTIR results of H2 adsorption at isostructural MOFs CPO-27-M (M = Mg, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn) were compared with data obtained from analogous studies performed on a large variety of microporous materials (MOFs and zeolites), underlining the relevance of the approach to get reliable energetic and entropic (ΔH(0) and ΔS(0)) values to be compared with computational data and isosteric heats.