Joshua D. Howe

Comprehensive study of carbon dioxide adsorption in the metal–organic frameworks M2(dobdc) (M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn)

Analysis of the CO2 adsorption properties of a well-known series of metal–organic frameworks M2(dobdc) (dobdc4− = 2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzenedicarboxylate; M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Zn) is carried out in tandem with in situ structural studies to identify the host–guest interactions that lead to significant differences in isosteric heats of CO2 adsorption. Neutron and X-ray powder diffraction and single crystal X-ray diffraction experiments are used to unveil the site-specific binding properties of CO2 within many of these materials while systematically varying both the amount of CO2 and the temperature. Unlike previous studies, we show that CO2 adsorbed at the metal cations exhibits intramolecular angles with minimal deviations from 180°, a finding that indicates a strongly electrostatic and physisorptive interaction with the framework surface and sheds more light on the ongoing discussion regarding whether CO2 adsorbs in a linear or nonlinear geometry. This has important implications for proposals that have been made to utilize these materials for the activation and chemical conversion of CO2. For the weaker CO2 adsorbents, significant elongation of the metal–O(CO2) distances are observed and diffraction experiments additionally reveal that secondary CO2 adsorption sites, while likely stabilized by the population of the primary adsorption sites, significantly contribute to adsorption behavior at ambient temperature. Density functional theory calculations including van der Waals dispersion quantitatively corroborate and rationalize observations regarding intramolecular CO2 angles and trends in relative geometric properties and heats of adsorption in the M2(dobdc)–CO2 adducts.

Reversible CO Binding Enables Tunable CO/H2 and CO/N2 Separations in Metal-Organic Frameworks with Exposed Divalent Metal Cations

Six metal-organic frameworks of the M2(dobdc) (M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn; dobdc(4-) = 2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) structure type are demonstrated to bind carbon monoxide reversibly and at high capacity. Infrared spectra indicate that, upon coordination of CO to the divalent metal cations lining the pores within these frameworks, the C-O stretching frequency is blue-shifted, consistent with nonclassical metal-CO interactions. Structure determinations reveal M-CO distances ranging from 2.09(2) Å for M = Ni to 2.49(1) Å for M = Zn and M-C-O angles ranging from 161.2(7)° for M = Mg to 176.9(6)° for M = Fe. Electronic structure calculations employing density functional theory (DFT) resulted in good agreement with the trends apparent in the infrared spectra and crystal structures. These results represent the first crystallographically characterized magnesium and zinc carbonyl compounds and the first high-spin manganese(II), iron(II), cobalt(II), and nickel(II) carbonyl species. Adsorption isotherms indicate reversible adsorption, with capacities for the Fe, Co, and Ni frameworks approaching one CO per metal cation site at 1 bar, corresponding to loadings as high as 6.0 mmol/g and 157 cm(3)/cm(3). The six frameworks display (negative) isosteric heats of CO adsorption ranging from 52.7 to 27.2 kJ/mol along the series Ni > Co > Fe > Mg > Mn > Zn, following the Irving-Williams stability order. The reversible CO binding suggests that these frameworks may be of utility for the separation of CO from various industrial gas mixtures, including CO/H2 and CO/N2. Selectivities determined from gas adsorption isotherm data using ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) over a range of gas compositions at 1 bar and 298 K indicate that all six M2(dobdc) frameworks could potentially be used as solid adsorbents to replace current cryogenic distillation technologies, with the choice of M dictating adsorbent regeneration energy and the level of purity of the resulting gases.

Design of a metal-organic framework with enhanced back bonding for separation of N2 and CH4

Gas separations with porous materials are economically important and provide a unique challenge to fundamental materials design, as adsorbent properties can be altered to achieve selective gas adsorption. Metal-organic frameworks represent a rapidly expanding new class of porous adsorbents with a large range of possibilities for designing materials with desired functionalities. Given the large number of possible framework structures, quantum mechanical computations can provide useful guidance in prioritizing the synthesis of the most useful materials for a given application. Here, we show that such calculations can predict a new metal-organic framework of potential utility for separation of dinitrogen from methane, a particularly challenging separation of critical value for utilizing natural gas. An open V(II) site incorporated into a metal-organic framework can provide a material with a considerably higher enthalpy of adsorption for dinitrogen than for methane, based on strong selective back bonding with the former but not the latter.