Isoreticular Microporous Metal–Organic Frameworks for Carbon Dioxide Capture

Abstract

The isoreticular principle has been applied to construct two copper metal-organic framework (MOF) analogues with different porosities for the adsorptive capture of CO2 from N2 and CH4 at 1 atm and 298 K. By using a 4-substituted isophthalate linker with a bulky nitro group, the microporous MOF [Cu(BDC-NO2)(DMF)] (UTSA-93 or CuBDC-NO2; H2BDC-NO2 = 4-nitroisophthalic acid and DMF = N,N'-dimethylformamide) has been synthesized with mot topology, showing a compact pore structure with a size of 6.0 × 7.0 Å2 in contrast to that of 6.9 × 8.5 Å2 in the prototypical MOF with a bromo group. The optimized pore structure allows the nitro-functionalized MOF to capture CO2 with a higher capacity of about 2.40 mmol g-1 under ambient conditions, in contrast to 1.08 mmol g-1 in the bromo-functionalized analogue. The adsorption selectivity of CuBDC-NO2-a for a CO2/N2 (15:85) mixture (28) under ambient conditions is also higher than that of the bromo-substituted prototype (25) and comparable with those of several MOF materials. Moreover, dynamic breakthrough experiments of the nitro-functionalized MOF have been performed to illustrate its separation potential toward a CO2/N2 mixture.