Incorporating Heavy Alkanes in Metal–Organic Frameworks for Optimizing Adsorbed Natural Gas Capacity

• Published in: Chemistry : a European journal 2018-09, Vol.24 (64)
• Main Authors: Fang, Yu, Banerjee, Sayan, Joseph, Elizabeth A., Day, Gregory S., Bosch, Mathieu, Li, Jialuo, Wang, Qi, Drake, Hannah, Ozdemir, Osman K., Ornstein, Jason M., Wang, Ye, Lu, Tong‐Bu, Zhou, Hong‐Cai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: carbon capture; high pressure; hydrocarbon; INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; materials and chemistry by design; membrane; mesoporous; metal-organic framework; methane storage; synthesis (novel materials); synthesis (scalable processing); synthesis (self-assembly)
• ISSN: 0947-6539; 1521-3765

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) as methane adsorbents are highly promising materials for applications such as methane-powered vehicles, flare gas capture, and field natural gas separation. Pre- and post-synthetic modification of MOFs have been known to help improve both the overall methane uptake as well as the working capacity. Herein, we introduce a post-synthetic modification strategy to non-covalently modify MOF adsorbents for the enhancement of the natural gas uptake for the MOF material. In our study, we doped PCN-250 adsorbents with C10 alkane and C14 fatty acid, investigating their impact on the methane uptake capabilities. We found that even trace amount of heavy hydrocarbons can considerably enhance the raw methane uptake of the MOF while still being regenerable. The doped hydrocarbons are presumably located at the mesoporous defects of PCN-250, thus optimizing the framework-methane interactions. Finally, these findings reveal a general approach which can be used to modify the MOF absorbents, improving their ability to be sustainable and renewable natural gas adsorption platforms.