Control of interpenetration via in situ lithium incorporation in MOFs and their gas adsorption properties and selectivity

Abstract

Lithium incorporation in metal–organic frameworks during solvothermal synthesis demonstrates a significant modification of the structure chemistry and surface properties of MOFs towards the adsorption selectivity of gas mixtures (CO₂ and CH₄) at ambient conditions. Variation of the lithium loading (xLi-MOF-5) led to tunability of the interpenetration resulting in materials with substantial differences in their properties. The behavior of xLi-MOF-5 was evaluated via phase identification based on XRD, functional group coordination using FTIR and adsorption measurements applying N₂, CO₂ and CH₄ gas adsorption/desorption analysis. These efforts give rise to a new strategy to tailor MOFs for high efficiency CO₂ adsorption and separation.