Infrared and Thermal-Desorption Spectroscopy of Hydrogen in Metal-Organic Frameworks

A body of research has recently formed around the study of hydrogen adsorption in Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), specifically with regard to using these materials as quantum sieves for the separation of molecular deuterium (D2 ) from molecular hydrogen (H2 ). This work presents a custom apparatus for in situ Infrared (IR) and Thermal-Desorption Spectroscopy (TDS) of H2 and D2 adsorbed into MOFs, an analysis of spectroscopic results, and a close examination of current theoretical models for hydrogen-MOF TDS through computational techniques. Ultimately we conclude that the prevailing model for hydrogen-MOF desorption is unphysical, and, while there is still some industrial benefit to molecular separation with stronger binding MOFs, we present the surprising conclusion that stronger binding MOFs exhibit diminishing returns with respect to their H2 –D2 separation factor. This conclusion is supported by theoretical as well as empirical evidence