Nanocomposite Hydrogel of Pd@ZIF-8 and Laponite®: Size-Selective Hydrogenation Catalyst under Mild Conditions

The composite hydrogel of a nanoscale metal–organic framework (NMOF) and nanoclay has emerged as a new soft-material with advanced properties and applications. Herein, we report a facile synthesis of a hydrogel nanocomposite by charge-assisted self-assembly of Pd@ZIF-8 nanoparticles with Laponite^® nanoclay which coat the surface of Pd@ZIF-8 nanoparticles. Such surface coating significantly enhanced the thermal stability of the ZIF-8 compared to the pristine framework. Further, the Pd@ZIF-8+LP hydrogel nanocomposite shows better size-selective catalytic hydrogenation of olefins than Pd@ZIF-8 nanoparticles based on selective diffusion of the substrate.     

An Ultra-Microporous Metal–Organic Framework with Exceptional Xe Capacity

Molecular confinement plays a significant effect on trapped gas and solvent molecules. A fundamental understanding of gas adsorption within the porous confinement provides information necessary to design a material with improved selectivity. In this regard, metal–organic framework (MOF) adsorbents are ideal candidate materials to study confinement effects for weakly interacting gas molecules, such as noble gases. Among the noble gases, xenon (Xe) has practical applications in the medical, automotive and aerospace industries. In this Communication, we report an ultra-microporous nickel-isonicotinate MOF with exceptional Xe uptake and selectivity compared to all benchmark MOF and porous organic cage materials. The selectivity arises because of the near perfect fit of the atomic Xe inside the porous confinement. Notably, at low partial pressure, the Ni–MOF interacts very strongly with Xe compared to the closely related Krypton gas (Kr) and more polarizable CO₂. Further ¹²⁹Xe NMR suggests a broad isotropic chemical shift due to the reduced motion as a result of confinement.     

Copper-based metal–organic framework decorated by CuO hair-like nanostructures: Electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction

We report a Cu-based metal–organic framework (MOF) decorated by CuO nanostructures as an efficient catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). MIL-53(Cu) was synthesized by a hydrothermal approach using 1,4-bezenedicarboxylic acid as organic precursor and further annealed at 300°C to form CuO nanostructures on its surface. The produced electrocatalyst, CuO@MIL-53(Cu), was characterized using various techniques. Under alkaline conditions, the developed electrocatalyst exhibited an overpotential of 801 and 336 mV versus RHE at 10 and 1 mA cm⁻², respectively. The reproducibility of the catalytic performance was validated using several electrodes. It was confirmed that the CuO hair-like nanostructures grown on MIL-53(Cu) using thermal treatment exhibit high OER activity, good kinetics and durability. CuO@MIL-53(Cu) is an economic noble-metal-free OER electrocatalyst. It has potential for application as anode material for sustainable energy technologies like batteries, fuel cells and water electrolysis.     

Gas Storage in Porous Molecular Materials

Molecules with permanent porosity in the solid state have been studied for decades. Porosity in these systems is governed by intrinsic pore space, as in cages or macrocycles, and extrinsic void space, created through loose, intermolecular solid-state packing. The development of permanently porous molecular materials, especially cages with organic or metal–organic composition, has seen increased interest over the past decade, and as such, incredibly high surface areas have been reported for these solids. Despite this, examples of these materials being explored for gas storage applications are relatively limited. This minireview outlines existing molecular systems that have been investigated for gas storage and highlights strategies that have been used to understand adsorption mechanisms in porous molecular materials.     

Energy Band Alignment and Redox-Active Sites in Metalloporphyrin-Spaced Metal-Catechol Frameworks for Enhanced CO2 Photoreduction

Two new chemically stable metalloporphyrin-bridged metal-catechol frameworks, InTCP-Co and FeTCP-Co, were constructed to achieve artificial photosynthesis without additional sacrificial agents and photosensitizers. The CO₂ photoreduction rate over FeTCP-Co considerably exceeds that obtained over InTCP-Co, and the incorporation of uncoordinated hydroxyl groups, associated with catechol, into the network further promotes the photocatalytic activity. The iron-oxo coordination chain assists energy band alignment and provides a redox-active site, and the uncoordinated hydroxyl group contributes to the visible-light absorptance, charge-carrier transfer, and CO₂-scaffold affinity. With a formic acid selectivity of 97.8 %, FeTCP-OH-Co affords CO₂ photoconversion with a reaction rate 4.3 and 15.7 times higher than those of FeTCP- Co and InTCP-Co, respectively. These findings are also consistent with the spectroscopic study and DFT calculation.     

Co3O4/UiO-66@α-Al2O3陶瓷膜对VOCs废气的分离催化性能

以α-Al₂O₃为支撑层, UiO-66为分离层, Co₃O₄为催化层, 构建了Co₃O₄/UiO-66@α-Al₂O₃陶瓷膜.对其形貌结构进行了表征, 并研究了其对挥发性有机物(VOCs)的分离催化性能. 结果表明, 该陶瓷膜对喷涂行业废气中苯与吡啶两种主要成分体现出良好的分离性, 透过侧的气体中吡啶与苯的摩尔浓度比值可由给料侧的1提高至17; 体系中引入臭氧后, 给料侧苯的浓度明显降低, 其去除率可达到89%. 透过侧的吡啶去除率仅为27%, 得到了较大程度的保留, 剩余的吡啶经收集后可进行单独的深度处理. Co₃O₄/UiO-66@α-Al₂O₃陶瓷膜在对喷涂行业废气中苯成分高效降解的同时, 能够有效解决喷涂行业废气处理过程中氮氧化物的排放问题, 有望成为喷涂行业废气预处理工艺的理想选择.     

Recent advances in removal of toxic elements from water using MOFs: A critical review

Water pollution with potentially toxic trace elements (PTEs) has seriously threatened the environment and human health globally. Their widespread occurrence at varied toxic levels and in different chemical forms has made remediation measures a cumbersome task. Furthermore, recent trends of PTE release via natural and/or human sources have further portended numerous detrimental events. Hence, effective remediation of PTE-contaminated aqueous media is highly substantial. Among various adsorbents, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been recently characterized and tested being versatile and highly effective adsorbents for remediating pollutant/PTE-contaminated aqueous media. Owing to their plethora of structures and numerous intrinsic characteristics (high adjustability, porosity, surface area, selectivity, reusability, and structural stability), MOFs have lately received an obvious consideration in environmental remediation and analytical chemistry. This review initially summarized the most recent data (2018–2022) about PTE water contamination (rivers, lakes, canals, groundwater, city, and industrial wastewater). Then the review comprehensively highlighted the effects of synthesis techniques/conditions and post-synthetic functionalization’s on MOF structural morphology by critically conferring the underlying mechanisms. Review summarizes MOF limitations apropos their large-scale industrial applications. The latest advancements regarding MOF syntheses and structural morphology to enhance their industrial applications have been updated and critically discussed. Likewise, the stability, selectivity, reusability, and multi-metal/pollutant removal potential of MOFs have been delineated using recent findings. Finally, the future perspectives have been put forth keeping in view the recent trends and potential research gaps. This review will act as guidelines for future studies of MOF-mediated PTE removal from wastewaters.     

Two novel heterobimetallic metal-organic frameworks for the enhanced catalytic thermolysis and laser ignition of CL-20

The study of multiple complex catalytic mechanisms is currently one of the great scientific issues for the application of high-energy solid propellants. Two novel heterobimetallic metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), Ba₄Pb₄(CH₃CO₂)₈ [(CH₆CO₂)₄Pb](CH₃CO₂)₄ (PbBa-MOF) and Ba₂Ni(CO₂H)₆(OH₂)₄ (NiBa-MOF), were prepared via the solvothermal method, and their structures and composition were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) techniques and N₂ adsorption/desorption experiment. The thermal decomposition characteristics of the two MOFs and their catalytic performances on the hexanitro hexaazaisowurtzitane (CL-20) thermolysis were also studied by differential scanning calorimetr (DSC) and thermogravimetric-fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-mass spectrum (TG-FTIR-MS) methods. The results showed that the NiBa-MOF presented a lower initial decomposition temperature than the PbBa-MOF, and the difference of the MOFs structures affected the starting point of thermal decomposition. Compared with the pure CL-20, the thermolysis peak temperature and apparent activation energy (E_a) of the CL-20/PbBa-MOF mixture were decreased by 2.2 °C and 23.76 kJ?mol^?1, respectively. The E_a of CL-20/NiBa-MOF mixture was lower and 42.01 kJ?mol^?1, indicating the better catalytic activity of NiBa-MOF. The thermolysis catalytic mechanisms were studied by analyzing the transformation of gas products during the pyrolysis of mixtures. The effect of these two MOFs on the CL-20 thermolysis is primarily owing to the strong attraction of metal cations to electronics, bimetallic synergistic catalysis, and the release of active free radicals. Furthermore, the laser ignition and flame propagation features showed that these two MOFs reduced the minimum ignition power density and ignition delay time of the CL-20, and the flame becomes brighter and more luminous. The influence of the two MOFs on the flame bright spot of CL-20 based mixtures was described.     

MOFs/水凝胶复合材料的制备及其应用研究

金属有机框架(MOFs)具有大量的孔隙结构和活性位点,在气体吸附、催化、医疗等领域均发挥了巨大的作用。MOFs是晶体粉末,具有脆性较大、在水中易分解和不易回收等缺点,从而限制了其应用。通过MOFs与柔性高分子的复合,特别是与水凝胶的复合,极大地改善了复合材料的柔顺性、可回收和可加工性等特性,进一步拓宽了MOFs的应用领域。本文详细阐述了基于水凝胶MOFs原位生成法、MOFs /水凝胶同时生成法和水凝胶包裹MOFs法等三种不同方法制备MOFs/水凝胶复合材料的研究进展,并对上述三种制备方法的特点及其产物特征进行了总结,进一步归纳了复合材料在生物医药、催化、废水处理和气体吸附等领域的应用。最后,对MOFs/水凝胶复合材料制备方法的改进和复合材料应用前景进行了深入讨论和展望。     

Constructing a Super-Saturated Electrolyte Front Surface for Stable Rechargeable Aqueous Zinc Batteries

Rechargeable aqueous zinc batteries (RAZB) have been re-evaluated because of the superiority in addressing safety and cost concerns. Nonetheless, the limited lifespan arising from dendritic electrodeposition of metallic Zn hinders their further development. Herein, a metal–organic framework (MOF) was constructed as front surface layer to maintain a super-saturated electrolyte layer on the Zn anode. Raman spectroscopy indicated that the highly coordinated ion complexes migrating through the MOF channels were different from the solvation structure in bulk electrolyte. Benefiting from the unique super-saturated front surface, symmetric Zn cells survived up to 3000 hours at 0.5 mA cm⁻², near 55-times that of bare Zn anodes. Moreover, aqueous MnO₂–Zn batteries delivered a reversible capacity of 180.3 mAh g⁻¹ and maintained a high capacity retention of 88.9 % after 600 cycles with MnO₂ mass loading up to 4.2 mg cm⁻².