Development of Porous Coordination Polymers for Gas Storage and Separation Materials

Gas storage and separation are closely related to various aspects of human society, such as the alleviation of greenhouse effect, promoting clean energy, and controlling harmful gases. In particular, hydrogen has been enthusiastically researched as a clean energy source that emits no greenhouse gases. Therefore, there are requirements for safe methods to manufacture, store, and transport hydrogen. Conventionally, hydrogen storage materials are metal hydrides and metal amides that react violently with moisture, and their usage environments are limited by the extreme conditions required for hydrogen gas generation. Metal-organic frameworks(PCP/MOFs)are porous coordination materials that are composed of organic ligands and metal ions. Because of their ability to efficiently adsorb small molecules, PCP/MOFs have potential applications in e.g., gas adsorption, catalysis, as well as energy storage and conversion. Functionalization and modification of the organic ligands to construct new MOFs are fascinating and significant areas in crystal engineering owing to the potential applications of the resulting materials. We describe the synthesis and gas-adsorption properties of novel MOFs using the functionalized organic ligands.