Microporous and mesoporous materials for gas storage and separation: a review

Various technologies and materials have been applied for the storage of clean gas energy, which also could control the combustion process to reduce CO2 emissions. Over the years, microporous and mesoporous materials have been developed as useful technology for gas storage and separation. However, no materials can adequately meet the needs of all applications. The present paper gives an overview of the various materials for gas storage and separation. The results showed that carbonaceous adsorbents were the most potential for meeting the US DoE system targets for gas (methane and hydrogen) storage. Meanwhile, the properties of metal organic frameworks and covalent organic frameworks (thermodynamics and kinetics) had significant improvements with the development of material science. Further, zeolites performed well in CO2 separation, but necessitated a high temperature for recovery. It was concluded that the utility of any new material will ultimately be determined not only by its material performance but also by its system performance, and much work is still required to be performed in the application of microporous and mesoporous materials for gas storage and separation in the future. (C) 2013 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.