Continuous UiO-66-Type Metal–Organic Framework Thin Film on Polymeric Support for Organic Solvent Nanofiltration

Abstract

For the first time, continuous polycrystalline UiO-66−NH 2 thin film supported by a cross-linked Matrimid substrate was successfully fabricated via in situ solvothermal synthesis at room temperature for organic solvent nanofiltration. The integrated structure of the formed UiO-66− NH 2 selective layer was inferred by various characterizations including X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. We have demonstrated that pretreatment of the substrate by an organic ligand, the number of solvothermal synthesis cycles, and the reaction time play important roles in MOF film formation. The newly developed UiO-66−NH 2 membrane possesses high surface hydrophobicity and mean pore size of 0.89 nm in diameter. It shows an exceptional rejection of 96.33% to Rose Bengal with moderate ethanol permeance of 0.88 L m −2 h −1 bar −1 . Benefiting from the extraordinary chemical stability of Zr-MOF crystals, the UiO-66−NH 2 membrane shows excellent stability in different solvents, implying their great potential for real applications. This work provides useful insights into the fabrication of continuous UiO-66-type MOF membranes on polymeric substrates, which are very promising in practical separations involving organic solvents.

2D Material Based Advanced Membranes for Separations in Organic Solvents

“…MOFs have been widely used as membrane materials for gas separation, [109][110][111] water treatment, [112,113] and OSN [114][115][116][117] due to their abundant porous structures, chemical versatility, and functionalities. [112,118] However, the application of 2D structured MOFs for membrane-based separation is much less compared with their 3D structured counterparts.…”

Bridging the interfacial gap in mixed-matrix membranes by nature-inspired design: precise molecular sieving with polymer-grafted metal–organic frameworks

“…21 Several strategies have been attempted to overcome undesired aggregation, such as the crosslinking of MOFs, 22 their hydrophobic modification, 23,24 functionalization of the polymer for better interfacial adhesion, 25,26 pre-deposition of MOFs in the thin-film composite sublayer, 27,28 and in situ growth of MOFs in the pores or on the surface of membranes. [29][30][31] Fig. 1.…”

Ultrahigh Stability of Wearable Photodetector Using Zirconium Metal‐Organic Framework Enabling In Situ and Continuous Monitoring of Ultraviolet Radiation Risk

“…Recently, layer‐by‐layer (LBL) liquid‐phase epitaxy (LPE) process has been regarded as a low‐cost and effective method for the high‐quality ZrBDC thin film deposition on diverse substrates. [ 9,10 ] In the LPE process, the thickness of ZrBDC film can be varied by the different number of deposition cycles. Each cycle consists of repeated steps of immersing a surface‐functionalized substrate into metal ion and organic ligand precursors alternatively with rinsing in pure solvent between each step to remove the impurity and uncoordinated precursors.…”

“…Each cycle consists of repeated steps of immersing a surface‐functionalized substrate into metal ion and organic ligand precursors alternatively with rinsing in pure solvent between each step to remove the impurity and uncoordinated precursors. [ 9,10 ] However, some inevitable drawbacks commonly observed in LPE are i) time‐consuming procedure; ii) requirement of a large volume of precursor solutions and solvents; [ 10 ] and iii) difficulty to apply for multi‐layer devices where the other layers underneath ZrBDC film could be damaged by the prolonged immersion time. To address these limitations, we introduce an LPE method cooperated with a spin‐coating in which the continuous ZrBDC thin film can be easily fabricated with desirable thickness within a short time.…”