Neutron Diffraction Studies of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Ammonia Adsorption

Porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained considerable attention due to their potential in many applications, including gas separation and storage. There is particular interest on ammonia adsorption owing to the high volumetric and gravimetric hydrogen energy density of ammonia. We seek to develop MOF materials with exceptional, reversible ammonia capacity and request 4 days on WISH to study the preferred binding sites and orientation of adsorbed guest ND3 molecules. This proposed study will investigate the precise locations of ND3 molecules within a series of Cu(II)-based MOFs, namely MFM-100, MFM-101 and MFM-102. These MOFs exhibit exceptionally high capacity for ammonia at ambient conditions with repeatable cycles, representing state-of-the-art materials in the field. The high resolution, low background and large d-spacing capabilities of WISH will enable structural insight.