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 (SiF(2-)(6)) 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).

Direct air capture is regarded as a plausible alternate approach that, if economically practical, can mitigate the increasing carbon dioxide emissions associated with two of the main carbon polluting sources, namely stationary power plants and transportation. Here we show that metal-organic framework crystal chemistry permits the construction of an isostructural metal-organic framework (SIFSIX-3-Cu) based on pyrazine/copper(II) two-dimensional periodic 44 square grids pillared by silicon hexafluoride anions and thus allows further contraction of the pore system to 3.5 versus 3.84 Å for the parent zinc(II) derivative. This enhances the adsorption energetics and subsequently displays carbon dioxide uptake and selectivity at very low partial pressures relevant to air capture and trace carbon dioxide removal. The resultant SIFSIX-3-Cu exhibits uniformly distributed adsorption energetics and offers enhanced carbon dioxide physical adsorption properties, uptake and selectivity in highly diluted gas streams, a performance, to the best of our knowledge, unachievable with other classes of porous materials.

A series of fcu-MOFs based on rare-earth (RE) metals and linear fluorinated/nonfluorinated, homo/heterofunctional ligands were targeted and synthesized. This particular fcu-MOF platform was selected because of its unique structural characteristics combined with the ability/potential to dictate and regulate its chemical properties (e.g., tuning of the electron-rich RE metal ions and high localized charge density, a property arising from the proximal positioning of polarizing tetrazolate moieties and fluoro-groups that decorate the exposed inner surfaces of the confined conical cavities). These features permitted a systematic gas sorption study to evaluate/elucidate the effects of distinctive parameters on CO2-MOF sorption energetics. Our study supports the importance of the synergistic effect of exposed open metal sites and proximal highly localized charge density toward materials with enhanced CO2 sorption energetics.

The potential of the molecular-building-block (MBB) approach for the assembly and development of functional solid-state porous materials has already been recognized. [1] This approach offers a prospective avenue toward the design and construction of novel materials; that is, desired properties can be incorporated at the design stage. These properties are required to address the myriad technological challenges that face us, including hydrogen storage for fuel applications. In metal-ligand directed assembly, the MBB approach has been adopted for the synthesis of functional metal-organic assemblies (MOAs), which range from discrete (metal-organic polyhedra) to 3D (metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)). Accordingly, various applications, including nonlinear optics (NLO), magnetism, catalysis, and gas storage, were revealed for MOFs. [2,3] These MOFs have proven exceptional owing to their facile tunability (alteration in pore size and functionality), a feature dependent on the rigidity, modularity, and control of the MBBs. Therefore, prior to the assembly process, it is essential that the MBBs possess certain attributes for the construction of targeted structures: each must be rigid, impart the desired directionality, and possess the necessary shape and geometry for that structure.Organic chemistry would seem to offer a vast repertoire to be employed as MBBs, because organic molecules can be designed to contain these features. Nevertheless, organicmolecule-based MBBs with high connectivity are not common, and their assembly into crystalline porous organic frameworks remains a challenge.[4] As such, alternative routes have been pursued combining organic MBBs and inorganic MBBs derived from metal-ligand coordination. Unlike organic MBBs, which are selected already possessing the desired features, typically inorganic MBBs are formed in situ. As a result, reaction conditions to generate a specific inorganic MBB consistently in situ are vital; once established, desired MOAs can be designed and (potentially) assembled by judicious choice of organic ligands. It is clear that continuous development and isolation of novel MBBs will eventually facilitate the rational construction of targeted functional MOAs, an example of design versus serendipity.Strategies based on the MBB approach have already shown promise toward the design and construction of MOAs, and, accordingly, some basic guidelines have been derived: [1] 1) It is essential that the desired inorganic building blocks can be targeted. 2) The organic linker must have specific functionalities that give rise to the desired shape, geometry, and rigidity upon coordination. 3) Reaction conditions must introduce the ability to generate crystalline materials, a result that is vital for structural analysis and correlations between structure and building units. 4) It is accepted that the assembly of simple building blocks, in the absence of any altering agent such as a template or structure directing agent (SDA), will lead to the construction of the default structure relative to...

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a promising class of porous materials because it is possible to mutually control their porous structure, composition and functionality. However, it is still a challenge to predict the network topology of such framework materials prior to their synthesis. Here we use a new rare earth (RE) nonanuclear carboxylate-based cluster as an 18-connected molecular building block to form a gea-MOF (gea-MOF-1) based on a (3,18)-connected net. We then utilized this gea net as a blueprint to design and assemble another MOF (gea-MOF-2). In gea-MOF-2, the 18-connected RE clusters are replaced by metal-organic polyhedra, peripherally functionalized so as to have the same connectivity as the RE clusters. These metal-organic polyhedra act as supermolecular building blocks when they form gea-MOF-2. The discovery of a (3,18)-connected MOF followed by deliberate transposition of its topology to a predesigned second MOF with a different chemical system validates the prospective rational design of MOFs.

* S Supporting Information CONSPECTUS: The total world energy demand is predicted to rise significantly over the next few decades, primarily driven by the continuous growth of the developing world. With rapid depletion of nonrenewable traditional fossil fuels, which currently account for almost 86% of the worldwide energy output, the search for viable alternative energy resources is becoming more important from a national security and economic development standpoint. Nuclear energy, an emission-free, high-energy-density source produced by means of controlled nuclear fission, is often considered as a clean, affordable alternative to fossil fuel. However, the successful installation of an efficient and economically viable industrial-scale process to properly sequester and mitigate the nuclear-fission-related, highly radioactive waste (e.g., used nuclear fuel (UNF)) is a prerequisite for any further development of nuclear energy in the near future. Reprocessing of UNF is often considered to be a logical way to minimize the volume of high-level radioactive waste, though the generation of volatile radionuclides during reprocessing raises a significant engineering challenge for its successful implementation. The volatile radionuclides include but are not limited to noble gases (predominately isotopes of Xe and Kr) and must be captured during the process to avoid being released into the environment. Currently, energy-intensive cryogenic distillation is the primary means to capture and separate radioactive noble gas isotopes during UNF reprocessing. A similar cryogenic process is implemented during commercial production of noble gases though removal from air. In light of their high commercial values, particularly in lighting and medical industries, and associated high production costs, alternate approaches for Xe/Kr capture and storage are of contemporary research interest. The proposed pathways for Xe/Kr removal and capture can essentially be divided in two categories: selective absorption by dissolution in solvents and physisorption on porous materials. Physisorption-based separation and adsorption on highly functional porous materials are promising alternatives to the energy-intensive cryogenic distillation process, where the adsorbents are characterized by high surface areas and thus high removal capacities and often can be chemically fine-tuned to enhance the adsorbate−adsorbent interactions for optimum selectivity. Several traditional porous adsorbents such as zeolites and activated carbon have been tested for noble gas capture but have shown low capacity, selectivity, and lack of modularity. Metal− organic frameworks (MOFs) or porous coordination polymers (PCPs) are an emerging class of solid-state adsorbents that can be tailor-made for applications ranging from gas adsorption and separation to catalysis and sensing. Herein we give a concise summary of the background and development of Xe/Kr separation technologies with a focus on UNF reprocessing and the prospects of MOF-based adsorbents for that particular appl...

Reticular chemistry approach was successfully employed to deliberately construct new rare-earth (RE, i.e., Eu(3+), Tb(3+), and Y(3+)) fcu metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with restricted window apertures. Controlled and selective access to the resultant contracted fcu-MOF pores permits the achievement of the requisite sorbate cutoff, ideal for selective adsorption kinetics based separation and/or molecular sieving of gases and vapors. Predetermined reaction conditions that permitted the formation in situ of the 12-connected RE hexanuclear molecular building block (MBB) and the establishment of the first RE-fcu-MOF platform, especially in the presence of 2-fluorobenzoic acid (2-FBA) as a modulator and a structure directing agent, were used to synthesize isostructural RE-1,4-NDC-fcu-MOFs based on a relatively bulkier 2-connected bridging ligand, namely 1,4-naphthalenedicarboxylate (1,4-NDC). The subsequent RE-1,4-NDC-fcu-MOF structural features, contracted windows/pores and high concentration of open metal sites combined with exceptional hydrothermal and chemical stabilities, yielded notable gas/solvent separation properties, driven mostly by adsorption kinetics as exemplified in this work for n-butane/methane, butanol/methanol, and butanol/water pair systems.

Bottom-up fabrication of complex 3D hollow superstructures from nonspherical building blocks (BBs) poses a significant challenge for scientists in materials chemistry and physics. Spherical colloidal silica or polystyrene particles are therefore often integrated as BBs for the preparation of an emerging class of materials, namely colloidosomes (using colloidal particles for Pickering stabilization and fusing them to form a permeable shell). Herein, we describe for the first time a one-step emulsion-based technique that permits the assembly of metal-organic framework (MOF) faceted polyhedral BBs (i.e., cubes instead of spheres) into 3D hollow superstructures (or "colloidosomes"). The shell of each resultant hollow MOF colloidosome is constructed from a monolayer of cubic BBs, whose dimensions can be precisely controlled by varying the amount of emulsifier used in the synthesis.