Patrick Nugent

Porous materials with optimal adsorption thermodynamics and kinetics for CO2 separation

The energy costs associated with the separation and purification of industrial commodities, such as gases, fine chemicals and fresh water, currently represent around 15 per cent of global energy production, and the demand for such commodities is projected to triple by 2050 (ref. 1). The challenge of developing effective separation and purification technologies that have much smaller energy footprints is greater for carbon dioxide (CO2) than for other gases; in addition to its involvement in climate change, CO2 is an impurity in natural gas, biogas (natural gas produced from biomass), syngas (CO/H2, the main source of hydrogen in refineries) and many other gas streams. In the context of porous crystalline materials that can exploit both equilibrium and kinetic selectivity, size selectivity and targeted molecular recognition are attractive characteristics for CO2 separation and capture, as exemplified by zeolites 5A and 13X (ref. 2), as well as metal–organic materials (MOMs). Here we report that a crystal engineering or reticular chemistry strategy that controls pore functionality and size in a series of MOMs with coordinately saturated metal centres and periodically arrayed hexafluorosilicate (SiF62−) anions enables a ‘sweet spot’ of kinetics and thermodynamics that offers high volumetric uptake at low CO2 partial pressure (less than 0.15 bar). Most importantly, such MOMs offer an unprecedented CO2 sorption selectivity over N2, H2 and CH4, even in the presence of moisture. These MOMs are therefore relevant to CO2 separation in the context of post-combustion (flue gas, CO2/N2), pre-combustion (shifted synthesis gas stream, CO2/H2) and natural gas upgrading (natural gas clean-up, CO2/CH4).

A Robust Molecular Porous Material with High CO2 Uptake and Selectivity

We report MPM-1-TIFSIX, a molecular porous material (MPM) based upon the neutral metal complex [Cu2(adenine)4(TiF6)2], that self-assembles through a hydrogen-bonding network. This MPM is amenable to room-temperature synthesis and activation. Gas adsorption measurements and ideal adsorbed solution theory selectivity predictions at 298 K revealed enhanced CO2 separation performance relative to a previously known variant as well as the highest CO2 uptake and isosteric heat of adsorption yet reported for an MPM. MPM-1-TIFSIX is thermally stable to 568 K and retains porosity and capacity even after immersion in water for 24 h.

Dramatic effect of pore size reduction on the dynamics of hydrogen adsorbed in metal–organic materials

The effects of pore size reduction on the dynamics of hydrogen sorption in metal–organic materials (MOMs) were elucidated by studying SIFSIX-2-Cu and its doubly interpenetrated polymorph SIFSIX-2-Cu-i by means of sorption, inelastic neutron scattering (INS), and computational modeling. SIFSIX-2-Cu-i exhibits much smaller pore sizes, which possess high H2 sorption affinity at low loadings. Experimental H2 sorption measurements revealed that the isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst) for H2 in SIFSIX-2-Cu-i is nearly two times higher than that for SIFSIX-2-Cu (8.6 vs. 4.6 kJ mol−1). The INS spectrum for H2 in SIFSIX-2-Cu-i is rather unique for a porous material, as only one broad peak appears at low energies near 6 meV, which simply increases in intensity with loading until the pores are filled. The value for this rotational transition is lower than that in most neutral metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), including those with open Cu sites (8–9 meV), which is indicative of a higher barrier to rotation and stronger interaction in the channels of SIFSIX-2-Cu-i than the open Cu sites in MOFs. Simulations of H2 sorption in SIFSIX-2-Cu-i revealed two hydrogen sorption sites in the MOM: direct interaction with the equatorial fluorine atom (site 1) and between two equatorial fluorine atoms on opposite walls (site 2). The calculated rotational energy levels and rotational barriers for the two sites in SIFSIX-2-Cu-i are in good agreement with INS data. Furthermore, the rotational barriers and binding energies for site 2 are slightly higher than that for site 1, which is consistent with INS results. The lowest calculated transition for the primary site in SIFSIX-2-Cu is also in good agreement with INS data. In addition, this transition in the non-interpenetrating material is higher than any of the sites in SIFSIX-2-Cu-i, which indicates a significantly weaker interaction with the host as a result of the larger pore size.