Reversible Thermal Conductivity Switching Using Flexible Metal–Organic Frameworks
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Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Babaei, Hasan.
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Thermal energy management in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is an important, yet often neglected, challenge for many adsorption-based applications such as gas storage and separations. Despite its importance, there is insufficient understanding of the structure-property relationships governing thermal transport in MOFs. To provide a data-driven perspective into these relationships, here we perform large-scale computational screening of thermal conductivity k in MOFs, leveraging classical molecular dynamics simulations and 10,194 hypothetical MOFs created using the ToBaCCo 3.0 code. We found that high thermal conductivity in MOFs is favored by high densities (> 1.0 g cm -3 ), small pores (< 10 Å), and four-connected metal nodes. We also found that 36 MOFs exhibit ultra-low thermal conductivity (< 0.02 W m -1 K -1 ), which is primarily due to having extremely large pores (~65 Å). Furthermore, we discovered six hypothetical MOFs with very high thermal conductivity (>10 Wm -1 K -1 ), the structures of which we describe in additional detail.
Using diamine-appended variants of the metal-organic framework M 2 (dobpdc) (M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Zn; dobpdc 4- = 4,4'-dioxidobiphenyl-3,3'-dicarboxylate) exhibit exceptional CO 2 capture properties owing to a unique cooperative adsorption mechanism, and thus hold promise for use in the development of energy- and cost-efficient CO 2 separations. Understanding the nature of thermal transport in these materials is essential for such practical applications, however, as temperature rises resulting from exothermic CO 2 uptake could potentially offset the energy savings offered by such cooperative adsorbents. Here, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are employed in investigating thermal transport in bare and e-2-appended Zn 2 (dobpdc) (e-2 = N -ethylethylenediamine), both with and without CO 2 as a guest. In the absence of CO 2 , the appended diamines function to enhance thermal conductivity in the ab -plane of e-2-Zn 2 (dobpdc) relative to the bare framework, as a result of noncovalent interactions between adjacent diamines that provide additional heat transfer pathways across the pore channel. Upon introduction of CO 2 , the thermal conductivity along the pore channel (the c -axis) increases due to the cooperative formation of metal-bound ammonium carbamates, which serve to create additional heat transfer pathways. In contrast, the thermal conductivity of the bare framework remains unchanged in the presence of zinc-bound CO 2 but decreases in the presence of additional adsorbed CO 2 .
Whether the presence of adsorbates increases or decreases thermal conductivity in metalorganic frameworks (MOFs) has been an open question. Here we report observations of thermal transport in the metal-organic framework HKUST-1 in the presence of various liquid adsorbates: water, methanol, and ethanol. Experimental thermo-reflectance measurements were performed on single crystals and thin films, and theoretical predictions were made using molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the thermal conductivity of HKUST-1 decreases by 40 – 80% depending on the adsorbate, a result that cannot be explained by effective medium approximations. Our findings demonstrate that adsorbates introduce additional phonon scattering in HKUST-1, which particularly shortens the lifetimes of low frequency phonon modes. As a result, the system thermal conductivity is lowered to a greater extent than the increase expected by the creation of additional heat transfer channels. Finally, we show that thermal diffusivity is even more greatly reduced than thermal conductivity by adsorption.