Ultrahigh Hydrogen Uptake in an Interpenetrated Zn4O-Based Metal-Organic Framework

As a highly promising candidate for hydrogen storage, crucial to vehicles powered by fuel cells, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted the attention of chemists in recent decades. H-2 uptake in an MOF is influenced by many factors such as pore size, ligand functionalization, and open metal sites. The synergistic effect of these factors can significantly enhance the H-2 uptake in an MOF. Herein, we report a twofold interpenetrated MOF (UPC-501) based on a Zn4O(COO)(6) secondary building unit with the H-2 uptake of 14.8 mmol g(-1 )(2.96 wt %) at 77 K and 0.1 MPa. This uptake is the highest among all the reported porous Zn-based MOF materials. Both experimental and theoretical results confirm that the reduced pore size derived from twofold interpenetration and the imidazole-functionalized ligand are responsible for the extremely high H-2 uptake of UPC-501. [GRAPHICS] .