MOF-assisted cryo-adsorption delivers near-liquid volumetric capacity and suppressed boil-off for LH₂ transport

Liquid hydrogen (LH2) offers exceptional energy density but suffers from boil-off losses that limit long-term storage and global transport. We introduce a materials-based solution using metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) to suppress boil-off by enhancing gas–surface interactions and stabilizing confined hydrogen. IRMOF-20 achieves up to ~97% of neat-LH2 volumetric capacity, while MIL-53(Al) shifts desorption onsets to higher temperatures (over the critical point of H2), both markedly reducing modeled boil-off rates under realistic tank conditions (e.g., from 2 to 7 months extended dormancy under a mid-vacuum stack). Inelastic neutron scattering provides indirect evidence for confined, super-dense H₂. Importantly, these values represent theoretical upper bounds (e.g., crystal-density occupancy, idealized void fraction) that benchmark feasibility; incorporating practical packing density and inter-particle voids will lower absolute numbers but preserve trends. Here authors show that hydrogen adsorbed at 20 K in MOFs can be denser than LH2, preserving nearly the same transport capacity as in conventional liquid-hydrogen tanks while sharply reducing boil-off losses during storage and delivery.