An interactive visualization of porous coordination cage Mo24(tBu-bdc)24, synthesized by the Bloch group at the University of Delaware, is on the left (right click, hold, and drag to rotate; scroll middle mouse button to zoom; click, hold middle mouse button and drag to pan). Twenty four bridging ligands (tBu-bdc = 5-tert-butylisophthalate) are coordinated to bimetallic (Mo2) paddlewheels to form a cuboctahedral cage harboring an intrinsic cavity. These cage molecules assemble together to form a nano-porous solid displaying an impressive internal surface area of 1321 m2/g.
The internal surface of the cavity, windows into the cavity, and intercage spaces all offer adsorption sites for small gas molecules such as methane. As a consequence, molecular materials such as Mo24(tBu-bdc)24 hold promise for application in densifying natural gas for onboard vehicular fuel storage. The Bloch group measured the adsorption of methane (the primary constituent of natural gas) in Mo24(tBu-bdc)24 at room temperature and found a fuel tank packed with this molecular material can store almost three times the amount of methane as an empty tank at 35 bar.
The Simon Ensemble (students: Arni Sturluson, Arthur Henry York) at Oregon State University used molecular simulations of methane adsorption to elucidate the most favorable methane adsorption sites in Mo24(tBu-bdc)24.
Reference: G. Lorzing, E. Gosselin, B. Trump, A. H. York, A. Sturluson, C. Rowland, G. P. A. Yap, C. M. Brown, C. M. Simon, E. D. Bloch. "Understanding Gas Storage in Cuboctahedral Porous Coordination Cages." Journal of the American Chemical Society. (2019) Link.
Credit for this webpage: Arthur Henry York, Bio3DView.jl
The internal surface of the cavity, windows into the cavity, and intercage spaces all offer adsorption sites for small gas molecules such as methane. As a consequence, molecular materials such as Mo24(tBu-bdc)24 hold promise for application in densifying natural gas for onboard vehicular fuel storage. The Bloch group measured the adsorption of methane (the primary constituent of natural gas) in Mo24(tBu-bdc)24 at room temperature and found a fuel tank packed with this molecular material can store almost three times the amount of methane as an empty tank at 35 bar.
The Simon Ensemble (students: Arni Sturluson, Arthur Henry York) at Oregon State University used molecular simulations of methane adsorption to elucidate the most favorable methane adsorption sites in Mo24(tBu-bdc)24.
Reference: G. Lorzing, E. Gosselin, B. Trump, A. H. York, A. Sturluson, C. Rowland, G. P. A. Yap, C. M. Brown, C. M. Simon, E. D. Bloch. "Understanding Gas Storage in Cuboctahedral Porous Coordination Cages." Journal of the American Chemical Society. (2019) Link.
Credit for this webpage: Arthur Henry York, Bio3DView.jl