Ambient temperature hydrogen storage in porous materials with exposed metal sites

•A facile synthesis of highly cross-linked PTF-M (M = Cr, Mg) complexes with exposed metal sites.•Ambient temperature hydrogen storage capacity of 1.5 wt% at 100 atm with Qst of 11.5 kJ mol−1.•High storage capacity arising from the electrostatic force between the exposed metal sites and the σ-electrons of H2.

Cross-linked porous polymeric complexes with exposed metal sites are synthesized for room temperature hydrogen storage via physisorption. At 298 K and 100 atm, PTF-Cr exhibits high excess hydrogen storage capacity up to 1.5 wt% with Qst of 11.5 kJ mol−1 while PTF-Mg exhibits 0.5 wt% with Qst of 8 kJ mol−1. The result provides insight for development of future storage materials with exposed transition metals.

Graphical abstractWe demonstrate a facile synthesis of highly cross-linked polymeric complexes with exposed metal sites for room temperature hydrogen storage via physisorption. At 298 K and 100 atm, PTF-Cr exhibits excess hydrogen storage capacity up to 1.5 wt% with Qst of 11.5 kJ mol−1 while PTF-Mg exhibits 0.5 wt% with Qst of 8 kJ mol−1.Download high-res image (135KB)Download full-size image