The Role of Molecular Modeling & Simulation in the Discovery and Deployment of Metal-Organic Frameworks for Gas Storage and Separation

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly tunable, extended-network, crystalline, nanoporous materials with applications in gas storage, separations, and sensing. We review how molecular models and simulations of gas adsorption in MOFs have lucidly impacted the discovery of performant MOFs for methane, hydrogen, and oxygen storage, xenon, carbon dioxide, and chemical warfare agent capture, and xylene enrichment. Particularly, we highlight how large, open databases of MOF crystal structures, post-processed for molecular simulations, are a platform for computational materials discovery. We pontificate how to orient research efforts to routinize the computational discovery of MOFs for adsorption-based engineering applications.