Porous materials

Abstract

Natural gas has received significant attention as a cleaner energy source alternative to gasoline. Natural gas consists of mainly methane (CH4); therefore, efficient storage of CH4 is essential to utilize natural gas. Porous materials have been widely used to store CH4 in a safe, efficient and cost-effective way. Among various different types of porous materials, a newly synthesized material family called metal organic frameworks (MOFs) has recently widely studied for CH4 storage. Several experimental and computational studies showed that MOFs are able to show better CH4 storage performance than the current benchmark materials such as activated carbons and zeolites due to their highly porous structures. The aim of this chapter is to review the recent advances in CH4 storage using MOFs. First MOFs are introduced to provide a background about these new nanoporous materials. Both experimental and computational studies performed to evaluate CH4 storage performance of MOFs were then reviewed. Several approaches to enhance CH4 uptake capacities of MOFs were also discussed. Finally, current opportunities and challenges of using MOFs for CH4 storage were addressed.