An In-Situ Neutron Diffraction and DFT Study of Hydrogen Adsorption in a Sodalite-Type Metal-Organic Framework, Cu-BTTri

Jacob Tarver, Mehrdad Asgari, Rocio Semino, Pascal Schouwink, Ilia Kochetygov, Olga Trukhina, Safak Bulut, Shuliang Yang, Craig Brown, Michele Ceriotti, Wendy Queen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus Citations

Abstract

Herein we present a detailed study of the hydrogen adsorption properties of Cu-BTTri, a robust crystalline metal-organic framework containing open metal-coordination sites. Diffraction techniques, carried out on the activated framework, reveal a structure that is different from what was previously reported. Further, combining standard hydrogen adsorption measurements with in-situ neutron diffraction techniques provides molecular level insight into the hydrogen adsorption process. The diffraction experiments unveil the location of four D2 adsorption sites in Cu-BTTri and shed light on the structural features that promote hydrogen adsorption in this material. Density functional theory (DFT), used to predict the location and strength of binding sites, corroborate the experimental findings. By decomposing binding energies in different sites in various energetic contributions, we show that van der Waals interactions play a crucial role, suggesting a possible route to enhancing the binding energy around open metal coordination sites.
Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)1147-1154
Number of pages8
JournalEuropean Journal of Inorganic Chemistry
Volume2019
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019

NREL Publication Number

  • NREL/JA-5900-73224

Keywords

  • density functional calculations
  • hydrogen
  • metal-organic frameworks
  • neutron diffraction

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