Research Associate Publication: Rowsell

Rowsell, J. L. C.; Yaghi, O. M. 2006.
Effects of Functionalization, Catenation, and Variation of the Metal Oxide and Organic Linking Units on the Low-Pressure Hydrogen Adsorption Properties of Metal-Organic Frameworks

J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128(4); 1304-1315.

Jesse Rowsell is a Research Associate in the Chemistry department. He contributed this summary of his recent article:

Realizing hydrogen's potential benefits as a fuel has been a hot topic of research, especially following President Bush's announcement of the $1.2 billion Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. It is widely recognized that several key advances are necessary in the areas of hydrogen production, storage, delivery and conversion. In order for hydrogen to be considered a viable alternative for fueling our transportation sector, new storage technologies must be developed to pack more of the gas into a smaller container. One strategy has been to develop microporous adsorbents that bind hydrogen molecules in molecular-sized holes. This paper evaluates the adsorption behavior of several new hybrid compounds that are composed of metal ions linked with organic molecules in a "Tinkertoy" fashion. It is shown that altering either the organic or inorganic components can improve the binding potential for hydrogen.