MEMOS

The MEMOS project aims to extend the research frontiers towards novel multicomponent hybrids (bimetallic nanoparticles embedded into porous solids of Metal-Organic-Frameworks) for solid-state hydrogen storage. Due to their high surface area, porous Metal-Organic-Frameworks (MOFs) show promise in the hydrogen storage field mainly at cryogenic temperature. Metal nanoparticles (MNPs) also have interesting properties for hydrogen storage due to their small particles size. Nevertheless, their combination at nanoscale level is a very recent and pioneering undertaken that will allow the discovery of innovative materials in a field that stringently requires technological and material breakthroughs. To our knowledge, the mainstream of studies on such hybrids deals with heterogeneous catalysis. For hydrogen storage, these hybrids have the advantage of combining hydrogen absorption into MNPs and adsorption on the surface of MOFs. However, for practical hydrogen storage applications at room temperature, the enthalpy of hydrogen adsorption on porous materials must be increased. The exciting benefit of hybrid materials is the possibility of tailoring hydrogen adsorption enthalpy by synergistic effects. Indeed, two independent publications have recently reported an increase of the enthalpy of adsorption for two different hybrids based on monometallic nanoparticles. The main originality of the project is the synthesis of multicomponent hybrids based on bimetallic nanoparticles encapsulated into MOFs for increasing the energetic of hydrogen adsorption. If gravimetric storage capacity of such hybrids might be decreased by adding MNPs as compared to pristine MOFs, the volumetric capacity can be greatly enhanced by using compressed pellets. A considerable synthetic effort will be committed to prepare the mutlicomponent hybrids and to control the textural properties of the porous hosts together with the chemical composition and particles size distribution of bimetallic nanoparticles. Thorough characterization of these hybrids will be performed to determine their fundamental and hydrogen sorption properties. The effect of compaction on the hydrogen storage properties will also addressed. In-depth characterisations of the most promising hybrids will be performed by the help of large scale facilities. The proposed 36 months collaboration will gather, for the first time, one French CNRS laboratory Institut de Chimie et des Matériaux Paris-Est (ICMPE) and one Romanian laboratory National Institute for Research and development of isotopic and molecular technologies (INCDTIM) around one common objective: the synthesis and characterisation of new hybrids with improved hydrogen storage capacity at room temperature via increased enthalpy of H2 adsorption. Our approach is purely academic and the success of this international project needs financial support for recruiting PhD and Master students, upgrading and maintaining the equipments, ensuring staff mobility between the two laboratories along with other operating costs. This new consortium will bring complementary competences for the success of this project that will open new directions towards the design of multifunctional nanomaterials since these materials may witness a wide range of potentialities from catalysis to optoelectronics. We strongly believe that in the near future, these hybrids will respond to the industrial needs for innovating nanomaterials.