MOFs, COFs, and ZIFs Plus H₂ and CH₄ Storage

Abstract

In the early 2000s, there was a great deal of interest in finding materials that could store H₂ at high density and small volume for use in H₂ fuel cells, particularly for transportation. The concern was that pressured H₂ gas would be too dangerous. DOE set standards but no experimental system came close. It seems like the industry has decided that pressured H₂ is OK. In 2004 we designed a series of systems that met DOE standards for H₂ and CH₄ storage, but generally did not find experimentalists to test our designs. Then in 2006 I learned about the MOF’s being developed by my friend Omar Yaghi at UCLA that I thought would be ideal for storing H₂ and CH₄. We did a series of papers, sometimes in collaboration with Omar, showing designs of MOFs and later COFs that would satisfy DOE requirements.