Evaluation of Metal–Organic Frameworks as Potential Adsorbents for Solar Cooling Applications

Abstract

The reduction of carbon dioxide emissions has become a need of the day to overcome different environmental issues and challenges. The use of alternative and renewable-based technologies is one of the options to achieve the target of sustainable development through the reduction of these harmful emissions. Among different technologies thermally activated cooling systems are one which can reduce the harmful emissions caused by conventional heating, ventilation, and air conditioning technology. Thermal cooling systems utilize different porous materials and work on a reversible adsorption/desorption cycle. Different advancements have been made for this technology but still a lot of work should be done to replace conventional systems with this newly developed technology. High adsorption capacity and lower input heat are two major requirements for efficient thermally driven cooling technologies. In this regard, it is a need of the day to develop novel adsorbents with high sorption capacity and low regeneration temperature. Due to tunable topologies and a highly porous nature, the hybrid porous crystalline materials known as metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are a great inspiration for thermally driven adsorption-based cooling applications. Keeping all the above-mentioned aspects in mind, this paper presents a comprehensive overview of the potential use of MOFs as adsorbent material for adsorption and desiccant cooling technologies. A detailed overview of MOFs, their structure, and their stability are presented. This review will be helpful for the research community to have updated research progress in MOFs and their potential use for adsorption-based cooling systems.

Photovoltaic and Photovoltaic Thermal Technologies for Refrigeration Purposes: An Overview

“…Some adsorbents such as activated carbon and silica-gel are conventionally used in this system [ 23 ]. Recent research showed that Metal–Organic Framework-adsorbents (MOF-adsorbents) could improve the performance of this cycle [ 24 ]. The application of this system, due to the low COP, might be less practical.…”

Systematic Search of Suitable Metal–Organic Frameworks for Thermal Energy-Storage Applications with Low Global Warming Potential Refrigerants

“…Such fast screening tasks using molecular simulations have been proven to be a valuable tool to identify potential materials for several applications, including CO 2 capture, , H 2 storage, , Li-ion conductors, tiol capture, CH 4 /H 2 separation, − and alcohol-based adsorption-driven heat pumps, − among others. Recently, it has been shown that MOFs can play an important role in refrigeration applications, , although a systematic study on the adsorption of newly developed low-GWP refrigerants is still lacking.…”

Steady-State Investigation of Carbon-Based Adsorbent–Adsorbate Pairs for Heat Transformation Application

“…Many studies have been conducted for pressurized adsorption systems employing these refrigerants, i.e., ethanol, methanol, R-134a and R-32, which have a lower triple point temperature to achieve a lower cooling temperature [27][28][29][30]. Concerning refrigerants, a lot of effort has been made towards the development of new adsorbent materials [31][32][33][34] and the study of their interactions with various refrigerants under a wide range of operating pressures. A good adsorbent must have [35,36] (i) a large adsorption uptake at a relatively low temperature, (ii) a lower specific heat capacity, (iii) an ability to desorb the refrigerant completely under desorption conditions, (iv) a high thermal conductivity, (v) less deterioration of adsorbent with time and (vi) a low cost.…”