Ca²⁺- and Mg²⁺-doped covalent organic frameworks exhibiting high hydrogen and acetylene storage

Abstract

A multiscale theoretical investigation has been performed to study the hydrogen and acetylene storage in Ca²⁺- and Mg²⁺-doped COFs (COF-105 and COF-108). The first-principles calculations show that the Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ can be immobilized at the COFs surfaces, and the doped Ca and Mg cations can adsorb five H₂ molecules and three C₂H₂ molecules with ideal binding energies. The Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations were carried out to obtain the hydrogen and acetylene uptakes of Ca²⁺- and Mg²⁺-doped COFs at room temperature in the different pressure ranges. Our results demonstrate that, at T = 298 K and p = 100 bar, the total gravimetric uptakes of H₂ in Ca²⁺-doped COF-105 and COF-108 reach 6.78 and 6.54 wt%, respectively, and a higher uptakes of 7.14 and 7.27 wt% have been reached for Mg²⁺-doped COF-105 and COF-108, respectively. At T = 298 K and p = 1 bar, the acetylene uptakes of Ca²⁺-doped COF-105, Ca²⁺-doped COF-108, Mg²⁺-doped COF-105, and Mg²⁺-doped COF-108 are 406.42, 366.24, 308.07, and 319.88 cm³/g (corresponding to the excess uptakes of 358.37, 316.38, 236.7109, and 245.42 cm³/g), respectively. The Ca²⁺-doped COF-105 displays a highest acetylene storage capacity among all materials reported. The Ca²⁺- and Mg²⁺-doped COFs can be very practical hydrogen or acetylene storage medium in the future.