Abstracts Book - IMRC 2018

• SC7-O015
METAL-ORGANIC FRAMEWORK-BASED MATERIALS FOR
ADSORPTIVE HYDROGEN STORAGE
Henrietta Langmi 1 , Sonwabo Bambalaza 1,2 , Nicholas Musyoka 1 , Jianwei Ren 1 , Mkhulu Mathe 1 ,
Lindiwe Khotseng 2
1 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, HySA Infrastructure, South Africa. 2 University of
the Western Cape, Faculty of Natural Science, South Africa.
One of the key challenges facing the realization of the Hydrogen Economy is the
lack of safe, reliable and efficient hydrogen storage systems. Metal-organic
frameworks (MOFs) have continued to receive intense interest over the years for
a variety of applications due to their remarkable properties. They possess low
weight, exceptionally high surface areas, large free volumes, and tunable pore
sizes and functionalities, which make them very attractive for hydrogen storage
applications. These properties set MOFs apart other porous materials like
zeolites, polymers and carbon nanostructures. At the material-level many
studies have revealed the potential of MOFs for adsorptive hydrogen storage
[1]. However, for MOF materials to be applicable at a system-level, they need to
undergo further processing since most of the known MOF materials are
synthesized as fine powder with small crystals [2]. In order to have substantial
capacity as well as acquire desirable properties for practical H 2 storage, MOFs
must be capable of being shaped into suitable structures. This presentation will
focus on our work on the development of Cr- and Zr-based MOFs, and their
composites for hydrogen storage. The employment of electrospinning and
compaction in the shaping of Cr-MOF and Zr-MOF powders to develop unique
MOF/nanofiber composites will be reported, together with an assessment of the
composites gas adsorption properties.
References
[1] H.W. Langmi, J. Ren, B. North, M. Mathe and D. Bessarabov, Hydrogen storage
in metal-organic frameworks: A review, Electrochim. Acta, 12, 2014, 368-392.
[2] J. Ren, N.M. Musyoka, H.W. Langmi, A. Swartbooi, B.C. North, M. Mathe, A
more efficient way to shape metal-organic framework (MOF) powder materials
for hydrogen storage applications, Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, 40, 2016, 4617-4622.
Acknowledgment: