Influence of Functional Groups and Modi cation Sites of Metal-Organic Frameworks on CO2/CH4 Separation: A Monte Carlo Simulation Study

In order to explore the in uence of modification sites of functional groups on landfill gas (CO₂/CH₄) separation performance of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), six types of organic linkers and three types of functional groups (i.e. -F, -NH₂, -CH₃) were used to construct 36 MOFs of pcu topology based on copper paddlewheel. Grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations were performed in this work to evaluate the separation performance of MOFs at low (vacuum swing adsorption) and high (pressure swing adsorption) pressures, respectively. Simulation results demonstrated that CO₂ working capacity of the unfunctionalized MOFs generally exhibits pore-size dependence at 1 bar, which increases with the decrease in pore sizes. It was also found that -NH₂ functionalized MOFs exhibit the highest CO₂ uptake due to the enhanced Coulombic interactions between the polar -NH₂ groups and the quadrupole moment of CO₂ molecules, which is followed by -CH₃ and -F functionalized ones. Moreover, positioning the functional groups -NH₂ and -CH₃ at sites far from the metal node (site b) exhibits more significant enhancement on CO₂/CH₄ separation performance compared to that adjacent to the metal node (site a).     

功能化金属有机框架材料催化二氧化碳转化研究进展

作为主要温室气体,二氧化碳(CO_2)导致了全球变暖与海洋酸化,同时CO_2也是重要的C1资源。在温和条件下,利用催化剂将CO_2高效、高选择性地转化为具有高附加值的化学品,对缓解CO_2给气候变化带来的负面影响和减少对化石能源的依赖具有重要意义。作为一类新兴的多孔晶态材料,金属-有机框架(metal-organic frameworks,MOFs)同时具备多相催化剂的可分离回收再利用以及均相催化剂的高选择性和高活性等性质,是优良的多相催化剂。本文主要聚焦功能化MOFs催化剂的结构特性及其在催化转化CO_2方面的应用,着重介绍该领域近期的研究进展,并对今后该领域的研究趋势及应用前景进行了展望。     

Design of Single‐Site Photocatalysts by Using Metal–Organic Frameworks as a Matrix

Single‐site photocatalysts generally display excellent photocatalytic activity and considerably high stability compared with homogeneous catalytic systems. A rational structural design of single‐site photocatalysts with isolated, uniform, and spatially separated active sites in a given solid is of prime importance to achieve high photocatalytic activity. Intense attention has been focused on the design and fabrication of single‐site photocatalysts by using porous materials as a platform. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have great potential in the design and fabrication of single‐site photocatalysts due to their remarkable porosity, ultrahigh surface area, extraordinary tailorability, and significant diversity. MOFs can provide an abundant number of binding sites to anchor active sites, which results in a significant enhancement in photocatalytic performance. In this focus review, the development of single‐site MOF photocatalysts that perform important and challenging chemical redox reactions, such as photocatalytic H₂ production, photocatalytic CO₂ conversion, and organic transformations, is summarized thoroughly. Successful strategies for the construction of single‐site MOF photocatalysts are summarized and major challenges in their practical applications are noted.     

Thermocatalytic Conversion of CO2 to Valuable Products Activated by Noble-Metal-Free Metal-Organic Frameworks

Thermocatalysis of CO₂ into high valuable products is an efficient and green method for mitigating global warming and other environmental problems, of which Noble-metal-free metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are one of the most promising heterogeneous catalysts for CO₂ thermocatalysis, and many excellent researches have been published. Hence, this review focuses on the valuable products obtained from various CO₂ conversion reactions catalyzed by noble-metal-free MOFs, such as cyclic carbonates, oxazolidinones, carboxylic acids, N-phenylformamide, methanol, ethanol, and methane. We classified these published references according to the types of products, and analyzed the methods for improving the catalytic efficiency of MOFs in CO₂ reaction. The advantages of using noble-metal-free MOF catalysts for CO₂ conversion were also discussed along the text. This review concludes with future perspectives on the challenges to be addressed and potential research directions. We believe that this review will be helpful to readers and attract more scientists to join the topic of CO₂ conversion.     

Efficient Visible‐Light‐Driven Carbon Dioxide Reduction by a Single‐Atom Implanted Metal–Organic Framework

Modular optimization of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) was realized by incorporation of coordinatively unsaturated single atoms in a MOF matrix. The newly developed MOF can selectively capture and photoreduce CO₂ with high efficiency under visible‐light irradiation. Mechanistic investigation reveals that the presence of single Co atoms in the MOF can greatly boost the electron–hole separation efficiency in porphyrin units. Directional migration of photogenerated excitons from porphyrin to catalytic Co centers was witnessed, thereby achieving supply of long‐lived electrons for the reduction of CO₂ molecules adsorbed on Co centers. As a direct result, porphyrin MOF comprising atomically dispersed catalytic centers exhibits significantly enhanced photocatalytic conversion of CO₂, which is equivalent to a 3.13‐fold improvement in CO evolution rate (200.6 μmol g^?1 h^?1) and a 5.93‐fold enhancement in CH₄ generation rate (36.67 μmol g^?1 h^?1) compared to the parent MOF.     

Catalytic Glucose Isomerization by Porous Coordination Polymers with Open Metal Sites

Highly efficient catalytic isomerization reactions from glucose to fructose in aqueous media using porous coordination polymers (PCPs) or metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) is reported for the first time. The catalytic activity of PCPs functionalized with ? NH₂, ? (CH₃)₂, ? NO₂, and ? SO₃H groups on the pore surface is systematically tested. The catalytic activity can be tuned by the acidity of open metal sites (OMSs) by modifying the organic linkers with the functional groups. As a result, it is demonstrated that MIL‐101 functionalized with ? SO₃H not only shows high conversion of glucose but also selectively produces fructose. Further, catalytic one‐pot conversion of amylose to fructose is achieved, thanks to the high stability of the framework in an acidic solution. These results show that MOF/PCP compounds having OMSs are promising materials for various useful heterogeneous catalytic reactions, in particular in the biomass field.     

Conversion of CH4 Catalyzed by Gas Phase Ions Containing Metals

Methane is an abundant and cheap feedstock to produce valuable chemicals. The catalytic reaction of methane conversion generally requires the participation of multiple molecules (such as two or three CH₄ molecules, O₂, CO₂, etc.). Such complex process includes the cleavage of original chemical bonds, formation of new chemical bonds, and desorption of products. The gas phase study provides a unique arena to gain molecular-level insights into the detailed mechanisms of bond-breaking and bond-forming involved in complicated catalytic reactions. In this Review, we introduce the methane conversion catalyzed by gas phase ions containing metals and three topics will be discussed: (1) the direct coupling of methane molecules, (2) the conversion of CH₄ with O₂, O₃ and N₂O, and (3) the conversion of CH₄ with CO₂ and H₂O. The obtained mechanistic aspects may provide new clues for rational design of better-performing catalysts for conversion of methane to value-added products.     

Recent Advances in Metal–Organic Frameworks for Photo-/Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Considerable attention has been paid to the utilization of CO₂, an abundant carbon source in nature. In this regard, porous catalysts have been eagerly explored with excellent performance for photo-/electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to high valued products. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), featuring large surface area, high porosity, tunable composition and unique structural characteristics, have been widely exploited in catalytic CO₂ reduction. This Minireview first reports the current progress of MOFs in CO₂ reduction. Then, a specific interest is focused on MOFs in photo-/electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ by modifying their metal centers, organic linkers, and pores. Finally, the future directions of study are also highlighted to satisfy the requirement of practical applications.     

离子液体功能化金属有机骨架材料催化CO2环加成反应研究进展

金属有机骨架(Metal-organic frameworks, MOFs)材料因具有超大比表面积、可修饰的化学结构、可调的孔隙形状和大小、开放的金属位点等独特的结构优越性而被广泛用于催化CO₂环加成反应的研究中。然而,大部分MOFs材料在此反应中往往需要在助催化剂或溶剂的存在下才能发挥其催化性能,这也导致了产物分离困难、资源浪费等问题。因此,开发能够单独催化CO₂环加成反应的MOFs材料成为当前科学家们研究的热点。在MOFs骨架上或孔腔内修饰离子液体是构筑此类催化体系的一种重要途径。本文对近年来这类MOFs的构筑策略、催化CO₂环加成反应的性能以及催化机理进行了总结,同时还对MOFs组成、形貌以及催化反应条件等因素对催化活性的影响进行了探讨。     

Reduction of nitrogen oxides in diesel exhaust: Prospects for use of synthesis gas

Already commercialized and some of the most promising technologies of nitrogen oxide reduction in automotive diesel exhaust are compared. The Boreskov Institute of Catalysis (Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences) is developing an advanced method for the selective catalytic reduction of NO _x with synthesis gas produced on board by the catalytic conversion of diesel fuel. The activity of the Ag/Al₂O₃ catalytic system in NO _x reduction by H₂ + CO admixtures is studied for both a model composition of the exhaust gas and under real diesel operation conditions.     

Asymmetric effects in catalytic membranes

A catalytic membrane hybrid system based on a cermet membrane with a channel size 〈d〉 of ～0.12 μm has been produced using sol-gel processing. A layer of a superfine methanol conversion catalyst with the composition Cr₂O₃ · Al₂O₃ · ZnO has been formed on the inner surface of the channels, and a thin oxide coating of composition P_0.03Ti_0.97O_{2 ± δ} with a homogeneous porous structure and 〈d〉 ～ 2 nm has been formed on the geometric membrane surface. The methanol conversion rate and the gas permeability of the membrane depend considerably on the methanol vapor and gas (H₂, He, CO₂, Ar, CH₄) flow directions. When methanol vapor diffuses toward the mesoporous layer, the catalytic activity is one order of magnitude higher and the gas permeability coefficients are 3–8 times lower than in the case of the reverse flow of the gaseous molecules. The temperature dependence of the gas permeability taking into account the possible types of mass transfer in porous solids suggests that, when the gases move toward the mesoporous coating consisting of phosphorus-modified titanium oxide, surface flow and activated diffusion dominate, whereas the reverse gas motion is dominated by free molecular flow.     

Catalysis in Single Crystalline Materials: From Discrete Molecules to Metal-Organic Frameworks

Catalysis is one of the key techniques for people's modern life. It has created numerous essential chemicals such as biomedicines, agricultural chemicals and unique materials. Heterogeneous catalysis is the new emerging method with reusable catalysts. Among heterogenous catalysis patterns developed so far, single crystalline catalysis has become the promising one owing to its high catalytic density and selectivity resulted by the inherent porosity, orderliness of the lattices and permeability. These crystalline catalysts could be used in various reactions such as photo-dimerization, Diels-Alder reaction, CO₂ transformation and so on. In this review, we highlighted the reported works about the single crystalline catalysts. Both discrete small molecules and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been used to prepare single crystals for catalysis. For discrete molecules based crystalline catalysts, coordinated and covalent molecules have been used. There were more catalytic modes in crystalline MOF catalysts. Three patterns were identified in this review: single crystalline MOFs i) without catalytic sites, ii) with inherent catalytic features and iii) with introducing catalytic units by post synthetic modification. Based on these examples, this review committed to provide the inspirations for the further design and application of single crystalline materials.     

Selective methane chlorination to methyl chloride by zeolite Y-based catalysts

The CH₄ chlorination over Y zeolites was investigated to produce CH₃Cl in a high yield. Three different catalytic systems based on Y zeolite were tested for enhancement of CH₄ conversion and CH₃Cl selectivity: (i) HY zeolites in H⁺-form having various Si/Al ratios, (ii) Pt/HY zeolites supporting Pt metal nanoparticles, (iii) Pt/NaY zeolites in Na⁺-form supporting Pt metal nanoparticles. The reaction was carried out using the gas mixture of CH₄ and Cl₂ with the respective flow rates of 15 and 10 mL min⁻¹ at 300–350 °C using a fixed-bed reactor under a continuous gas flow condition (gas hourly space velocity = 3000 mL g⁻¹ h⁻¹). Above the reaction temperature of 300 °C, the CH₄ chlorination is spontaneous even in the absence of catalyst, achieving 23.6% of CH₄ conversion with 73.4% of CH₃Cl selectivity. Under sufficient supplement of thermal energy, Cl₂ molecules can be dissociated to two chlorine radicals, which triggered the C-H bond activation of CH₄ molecule and thereby various chlorinated methane products (i.e., CH₃Cl, CH₂Cl₂, CHCl₃, CCl₄) could be produced. When the catalysts were used under the same reaction condition, enhancement in the CH₄ conversion was observed. The Pt-free HY zeolite series with varied Si/Al ratios gave around 27% of CH₄ conversion, but there was a slight decrease in CH₃Cl selectivity with about 64%. Despite the difference in acidity of HY zeolites having different Si/Al ratios, no prominent effect of the Si/Al ratios on the catalytic performance was observed. This suggests that the catalytic contribution of HY zeolites under the present reaction condition is not strong enough to overcome the spontaneous CH₄ chlorination. When the Pt/HY zeolite catalysts were used, the CH₄ conversion reached further up to 30% but the CH₃Cl selectivity decreased to 60%. Such an enhancement of CH₄ conversion could be attributed to the strong catalytic activity of HY and Pt/HY zeolite catalysts. However, both catalysts induced the radical cleavage of Cl₂ more favorably, which ultimately decreased the CH₃Cl selectivity. Such trade-off relationship between CH₄ conversion and CH₃Cl selectivity can be slightly broken by using Pt/NaY zeolite catalyst that is known to possess Frustrated Lewis Pairs (FLP) that are very useful for ionic cleavage of H₂ to H⁺ and H⁻. Similarly, in the present work, Pt/NaY(FLP) catalysts enhanced the CH₄ conversion while keeping the CH₃Cl selectivity as compared to the Pt/HY zeolite catalysts.     

Rapid microwave-hydrothermal conversion of lignin model compounds to value-added products via catalytic oxidation using metal organic frameworks

Microwave irradiation is an effective method for faster heating to shorten reaction time of oxidative valorization of lignin. However, studies using microwave irradiation for lignin oxidation all employ homogeneous catalysis. Thus, this study aims to investigate heterogeneous catalytic oxidation of lignin under microwave irradiation. Especially, metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are adopted as transition metal-containing heterogeneous catalysts for lignin oxidation. In particularly, MOFs (MIL-101 (Cr), MIL-101 (Fe), UiO-66, HKUST-1, and MOF-801) are also prepared using microwave irradiation and used as for oxidative conversion of a model lignin compound, vanillyl alcohol (VAL), to the valuable products, vanillin (VN) and vanillic acid (VAC), using H₂O₂ as an oxidant. While the tested MOFs all exhibit catalytic activities for VAL conversion to VN/VAC, MIL-101 and MOF-801 appear to be relatively effective. Through investigating the effect of temperature, VAL conversion to VN/VAC is less favorable at higher temperature possibly due to degradation of H₂O₂ at high temperatures. While a higher dosage of H₂O₂ increases VAL conversion, the additionally added H₂O₂ seems to further oxidize VN to VAC instead of converting more VAL to VN. Through the EPR analyses, the mechanism of VAL conversion to VN/VAC may be attributed to both the OH-based and non-OH^? routes. The most effective MOF, MOF-801, also exhibited very similar catalytic activities over several cycles. The results indicate that MOFs can convert VAL to valuable products of VN and VAC within a very short time (10 min) under microwave irradiation. MOF-801 was also validated as a promising MOF for VAL conversion.     

Platinum-Supported Zirconia Nanotube Arrays Supported on Graphene Aerogels Modified with Metal–Organic Frameworks: Adsorption and Oxidation of Formaldehyde at Room Temperature

Precious-metal catalysts (e.g., Au, Rh, Ag, Ru, Pt, and Pd) supported on transition-metal oxides (e.g., Al₂O₃, Fe₂O₃, CeO₂, ZrO₂, Co₃O₄, MnO₂, TiO₂, and NiO) can effectively oxidize volatile organic compounds. In this study, porous platinum-supported zirconia materials have been prepared by a “surface-casting” method. The synthesized catalysts present an ordered nanotube structure and exhibited excellent performance toward the catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde. A facile method, utilizing a boiling water bath, was used to fabricate graphene aerogel (GA), and the macroscopic 3D Pt/ZrO₂-GA was modified by introducing an adjustable MOF coating by a surface step-by-step method. The unblocked mesoporous structure of the graphene aerogel facilitates the ingress and egress of reactants and product molecules. The selected 7 wt.% Pt/ZrO₂-GA-MOF-5 composite demonstrated excellent performance for HCHO adsorption. Additionally, this catalyst achieved around 90 % conversion when subjected to a reaction temperature of 70 °C (T_{90 %}=70 °C). The Pt/ZrO₂-GA-MOF-5 composite induces a catalytic cycle, increasing the conversion by simultaneously adsorbing and oxidizing HCHO. This work provides a simple approach to increasing reactant concentration on the catalyst to increase the rate of reaction.     

Discovery of Complex Binding and Reaction Mechanisms from Ternary Gases in Rare Earth Metal–Organic Frameworks

Understanding the selectivity of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) to complex acid gas streams will enable their use in industrial applications. Herein, ab initio molecular dynamic simulations (AIMD) were used to simulate ternary gas mixtures (H₂O-NO₂-SO₂) in rare earth 2,5-dihydroxyterephthalic acid (RE-DOBDC) MOFs. Stronger H₂O gas-metal binding arose from thermal vibrations in the MOF sterically hindering access of SO₂ and NO₂ molecules to the metal sites. Gas-gas and gas-linker interactions within the MOF framework resulted in the formation of multiple secondary gas species including HONO, HNO₂, NOSO, and HNO₃⁻. Four gas adsorption sites were identified along with a new de-protonation reaction mechanism not observable through experiment. This study not only provides valuable information on competitive gas binding energies in the MOF, it also provides important chemical insights into transient chemical reactions and mechanisms.     

Structural Insight into Binary Protein Metal–Organic Frameworks with Ferritin Nanocages as Linkers and Nickel Clusters as Nodes

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) hold great promise for numerous applications. However, proteins, carriers of biological functions in living systems, have not yet been fully explored as building blocks for the construction of MOFs. This work presents a strategy for the fabrication of binary MOFs. Considering octahedral ferritin symmetry, four His₂ (His–His) motifs were first incorporated into the exterior surface of a ferritin nanocage near each C₄ channel, yielding protein linkers with multiple metal-binding sites (bisH-SF). Secondly, by adding nickel ions to bisH-SF solutions triggers the self-assembly of ferritin nanocages into a porous 3D crystalline MOF with designed protein lattice, where two adjacent ferritin molecules along the C₄ symmetry axes are bridged by four dinuclear or tetranuclear nickel clusters depending on Ni²⁺ concentration. This work provides a simple approach for precise control over a binary protein–metal crystalline framework, and the resulting MOFs exhibited inherent ferroxidase activity and peroxidase-like catalytic activity.     

Synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides or olefins and CO2 catalyzed by metal-organic frameworks and quaternary ammonium salts

Catalytic properties of the metal-organic framework Cr-MIL-101 in solvent-free cycloaddition of CO₂ to epoxides to produce cyclic carbonates using tetrabutylammonium bromide as co-catalyst have been explored under mild reaction conditions (8 bar CO₂, 25 ⁰C). Styrene and propylene carbonates were formed with high yields (95% and 82%, respectively). Catalytic performance of Cr-MIL-101 was compared with other MOFs: Fe-MIL-101, Zn-MOF-5 and HKUST-1. The catalytic properties of different quaternary ammonium bromides, Cr-MIL-101 as well as PW₁₂/Cr-MIL-101 composite material have been assessed in oxidative carboxylation of styrene in the presence of both tert-butyl hydroperoxide and H₂O₂ as oxidants at 8–100 bar CO₂ and 25–80 ⁰C with selectivity to styrene carbonate up to 44% at 57% substrate conversion.     

The First Study on the Reactivity of Water Vapor in Metal–Organic Frameworks with Platinum Nanocrystals

We first studied the reactivity of H₂O vapor in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with Pt nanocrystals (NCs) through the water–gas shift (WGS) reaction. A water‐stable MOF, UiO‐66, serves as a highly effective support material for the WGS reaction compared with ZrO₂. The origin of the high catalytic performance was investigated using in situ IR spectroscopy. In addition, from a comparison of the catalytic activities of Pt on UiO‐66, where Pt NCs are located on the surface of UiO‐66 and Pt@UiO‐66, where Pt NCs are coated with UiO‐66, we found that the competitive effects of H₂O condensation and diffusion in the UiO‐66 play important roles in the catalytic activity of Pt NCs. A thinner UiO‐66 coating further enhanced the WGS reaction activity of Pt NCs by minimizing the negative effect of slow H₂O diffusion in UiO‐66.     

Accurate van der Waals force field for gas adsorption in porous materials

An accurate van der Waals force field (VDW FF) was derived from highly precise quantum mechanical (QM) calculations. Small molecular clusters were used to explore van der Waals interactions between gas molecules and porous materials. The parameters of the accurate van der Waals force field were determined by QM calculations. To validate the force field, the prediction results from the VDW FF were compared with standard FFs, such as UFF, Dreiding, Pcff, and Compass. The results from the VDW FF were in excellent agreement with the experimental measurements. This force field can be applied to the prediction of the gas density (H₂, CO₂, C₂H₄, CH₄, N₂, O₂) and adsorption performance inside porous materials, such as covalent organic frameworks (COFs), zeolites and metal organic frameworks (MOFs), consisting of H, B, N, C, O, S, Si, Al, Zn, Mg, Ni, and Co. This work provides a solid basis for studying gas adsorption in porous materials. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.