Metal-Organic Framework Adsorbents for Fuel Cell - Relevant Small Molecules

This Small Business Technology Transfer Phase II project seeks to develop and commercialize compact, lightweight, and high-energy-density hydrocarbon fuel processor. The processor will supply contaminant-free hydrogen at a rate sufficient to support a 20-W PEM fuel cell for 72 hours. Our innovation is based on integration of state-of-the-art technology of hydrocarbon-to-hydrogen reforming with novel highly efficient reversible adsorbents for hydrogen purification. Commercially available adsorbents, due to the low specific adsorbing capacity, have limited practical application in the fuel processors for fuel cells, especially if compactness and lightweight are desirable. The proposed approach addresses these limitations by synthesizing novel high-capacity, selective, inexpensive, and reversible metal-organic framework (MOF) adsorbents for fuel-cell-relevant small molecules (primarily CO) that are able to remove CO at ppm level in the presence of large amount of water vapor. The proposed adsorption technology is economical and scaleable. In Phase I we proved the feasibility of the proposed approach by demonstrating MOF adsorbents with unprecedentedly high adsorption capacity that could enable the development of man-portable fuel processors.