Perspectives on the Impact of Environmental Factors on Performance of Metal-Organic Frameworks in Adsorption Systems

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are permanently porous coordination polymers that have emerged as an important new class of porous materials with the potential to make an immediate impact in adsorption separation technologies. MOFs are synthesized by a self-assembly process in which metal or metal-oxide vertices are connected by rigid or semi-rigid organic molecules. The rational synthesis approach opens up the possibility for new advances in the development of new and improved adsorbents for air purification and the removal of toxic chemicals. MOFs have shown the potential to be designed for adsorbate-specific interactions, creating effective and selective “molecular sponges”. However, the density of active sites is often low, and the commercial use of MOFs is still limited by issues with chemical stability and synthesis scale-up. This perspective will discuss our comprehensive work and recent progress in this area and will demonstrate the applicability of MOFs for adsorption separations and catalysis.