Trapping gases in metal-organic frameworks with a selective surface molecular barrier layer
Name
Trapping gases.pdf
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665.85 KB
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Author(s)
Tan, Kui
Zuluaga, Sebastian
Fuentes, Erika
Veyan, Jean-François
Li, Jing
Chabal, Yves J.
Mattson, Eric Michael
Wang, Hao
Thonhauser, Timo
Date Issued
December 2016
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Tan, Kui, Sebastian Zuluaga, Erika Fuentes, Eric C. Mattson, Jean-François Veyan, Hao Wang, Jing Li, Timo Thonhauser, and Yves J. Chabal. “Trapping Gases in Metal-Organic Frameworks with a Selective Surface Molecular Barrier Layer.” Nature Communications 7 (December 13, 2016): 13871.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The main challenge for gas storage and separation in nanoporous materials is that many molecules of interest adsorb too weakly to be effectively retained. Instead of synthetically modifying the internal surface structure of the entire bulk—as is typically done to enhance adsorption—here we show that post exposure of a prototypical porous metal-organic framework to ethylenediamine can effectively retain a variety of weakly adsorbing molecules (for example, CO, CO₂, SO₂, C₂H₂, NO) inside the materials by forming a monolayer-thick cap at the external surface of microcrystals. Furthermore, this capping mechanism, based on hydrogen bonding as explained by ab initio modelling, opens the door for potential selectivity. For example, water molecules are shown to disrupt the hydrogen-bonded amine network and diffuse through the cap without hindrance and fully displace/release the retained small molecules out of the metal-organic framework at room temperature. These findings may provide alternative strategies for gas storage, delivery and separation.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemistry
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms13871
