Computational screening of porous carbons, zeolites, and metal organic frameworks for desulfurization and decarburization of biogas, natural gas, and flue gas

Molecular adsorption and self-diffusion of NO2, SO2, and their binary mixture in MIL-47(V) material

The loading dependence of self-diffusion coefficients (Ds) of NO2, SO2, and their equimolar binary mixture in MIL-47(V) have been investigated by using classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The Ds of NO2 are found to be two orders of magnitude greater than SO2 at low loadings and temperatures, and its Ds decreases monotonically with loading. The Ds of SO2 exhibit two diffusion patterns, indicating the specific interaction between the gas molecules and the MIL-47(V) lattice. The maximum activation energy (Ea) in the pure component and in the mixture for SO2 are 16.43 and 18.35 kJ mol-1, and for NO2 are 2.69 and 1.89 kJ mol-1, respectively. It is shown that SO2 requires more amount of energy than NO2 to increase the diffusion rate. The radial distribution functions (RDFs) of gas-gas and gas-lattice indicate that the Oh of MIL-47(V) are preferential adsorption site for both NO2 and SO2 molecules. However, the presence of the hydrogen bonding (HB) interaction between the O of SO2 and the H of MIL-47(V) and also their binding angle (θ(OHC)) of 120° with the linkers of lattice indicate a stronger binding interaction between the SO2 and the MIL-47(V), but it does not occur with NO2. The jump-diffusion of SO2 between adsorption sites within the lattice has been confirmed by the 2D density distribution plots. Moreover, the extraordinarily high Sdiff for NO2/SO2 of 623.4 shows that NO2 can diffuse through the MIL-47(V) significantly faster than SO2, especially at low loading and temperature.

Greenly synthesized zeolites as sustainable materials for corrosion protection: Design, technology and application

The progress and use of effective and economic anticorrosive resources are in high mandate due to huge safety and economic concerns about corrosion. Significant advancements have already been achieved that help in minimizing corrosion costs up to US $375 to US $875 billion annually. The use of zeolites in anticorrosive and self-healing coatings is well-studied and documented in many reports. The self-healing property of zeolite-based coatings is attributed to their ability to provide anticorrosive protection in the defected areas through forming protective oxide films i.e. passivation. The synthesis of zeolites from the traditional hydrothermal method is associated with several drawbacks including their high cost and discharge of harmful gases such as oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) and greenhouse gases (CO₂ and CO). In view of this, some green approaches such as solvent-free, organotemplate-free, use of safer organic templates, green solvents (e.g. ILs) and energy efficient (MW and US) heating, one-step reactions (OSRs) etc. are adopted in the green synthesis of zeolites. Recently, the self-healing properties of greenly synthesized zeolites are documented along with their mechanism of corrosion inhibition.

Selective adsorption of sulphur dioxide and hydrogen sulphide by metal-organic frameworks

The removal of highly toxic gasses such as SO₂ and H₂S is important in various industrial and environmental applications. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising candidates for the capture of toxic gases owing to their favorable properties such as high selectivity, moisture stability, thermostability, acid gas resistance, high sorption capacity, and low-cost regenerability. In this study, we perform first principles density functional theory (DFT) and grand-canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations to investigate the capture of highly toxic gases, SO₂ and H₂S, by the recently designed ZTF and MAF-66 MOFs. Our results indicate that ZTF and MAF-66 show good adsorption performances for SO₂ and H₂S capture. The nature of the interactions between H₂S or SO₂ and the pore surface cavities was examined at the microscopic level. SO₂ is adsorbed on the pore surface through two types of hydrogen bonds, either between O of SO₂ with the closest H of the triazole 5-membred ring or between O of SO₂ with the hydrogen of the amino group. For H₂S inside the pores, the principal interactions between H₂S and surface pores are due to a relatively strong hydrogen bonds established between the nitrogens of the organic part of MOFs and H₂S. Also, we found that these interactions depend on the orientation of SO₂/H₂S inside the pores. Moreover, we have studied the influence of the presence of water and CO₂ on H₂S and SO₂ capture by the ZTF MOF. The present GCMC simulations reveal that the addition of H₂O molecules at low pressure leads to an enhancement of the H₂S adsorption, in agreement with experimental findings. However, the presence of water molecules decreases the adsorption of SO₂ irrespective of the pressure used. Besides, SO₂ adsorption is increased in the presence of a small number of CO₂ molecules, whereas the presence of carbon dioxide in ZTF pores has an unfavorable effect on the capture of H₂S.

Zeolites in Adsorption Processes: State of the Art and Future Prospects

Zeolites have been widely used as catalysts, ion exchangers, and adsorbents since their industrial breakthrough in the 1950s and continue to be state-of the-art adsorbents in many separation processes. Furthermore, their properties make them materials of choice for developing and emerging separation applications. The aim of this review is to put into context the relevance of zeolites and their use and prospects in adsorption technology. It has been divided into three different sections, i.e., zeolites, adsorption on nanoporous materials, and chemical separations by zeolites. In the first section, zeolites are explained in terms of their structure, composition, preparation, and properties, and a brief review of their applications is given. In the second section, the fundamentals of adsorption science are presented, with special attention to its industrial application and our case of interest, which is adsorption on zeolites. Finally, the state-of-the-art relevant separations related to chemical and energy production, in which zeolites have a practical or potential applicability, are presented. The replacement of some of the current separation methods by optimized adsorption processes using zeolites could mean an improvement in terms of sustainability and energy savings. Different separation mechanisms and the underlying adsorption properties that make zeolites interesting for these applications are discussed.

Computational study of the effect of functionalization on natural gas components separation and adsorption in NUM-3a MOF

The upgrading of natural gas on the pristine and functionalized NUM-3a -X (X = -Cl, -NH₂, -F) were studied using Monte Carlo simulations in the grand canonical ensemble (GCMC). The equilibrium structures of the functionalized NUM-3a-X were found and confirmed by the quantum mechanical DFT methods. At first, the adsorptions of the components of the natural gas, CH₄, CO₂, H₂S and N₂ as pure gases in the pristine MOF were calculated, utilizing the common force fields for the MOFs and compared with the available experimental data to find out the best performing ones for the simulation of adsorption of the studied gases. Based on the obtained results, NUM-3a -Cl showed the highest uptake for the pure gases. Also, we found that the adsorption of CO₂ on NUM-3a -X (X = -Cl, -NH₂, -F) is higher than that of other gases. Furthermore, our GCMC simulations revealed that the inclusion of functional groups increases the CO₂ selectivity in binary mixtures. In addition, the selectivity of NUM-3a-Cl for CO₂ was found to be higher than that the other studied MOFs. The simulated CO₂ selectivity were in the order of CO₂/N₂ > CO₂/CH₄. Our results indicated that the inclusion of electron withdrawing functional groups can enhance the performance of a MOF for CO₂ separation applications. In addition, the isosteric heats of adsorption and Henry's law coefficients were studied.

Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) Removal via MOFs

The removal of the environmentally toxic and corrosive hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) from gas streams with varying overall pressure and H₂S concentration is a long-standing challenge faced by the oil and gas industries. The present work focuses on H₂S capture using a relatively new type of material, namely metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), in an effort to shed light on their potential as adsorbents in the field of gas storage and separation. MOFs hold great promise as they make possible the design of structures from organic and inorganic units, but also as they have provided an answer to a long-term challenging objective, i.e., how to design extended structures of materials. Moreover, in designing MOFs, one may functionalize the organic units and thus, in essence, create pores with different functionalities, and also to expand the pores in order to increase pore openings. The work presented herein provides a detailed discussion, by thoroughly combining the existing literature on new developments in MOFs for H₂S removal, and tries to provide insight into new areas for further research.

Functionalization effects on HKUST-1 and HKUST-1/graphene oxide hybrid adsorbents for hydrogen sulfide removal

HKUST-1, a Cu-based metalorganic framework (MOF), was synthesized solvothermally, functionalized with polyethyleneimine (PEI), and hybridized with graphene oxide (GO) and functionalized GO for H₂S removal. MOF synthesis approach, molecular weight of amines, and the content of GO in the hybrid adsorbents were systematically varied. The adsorbent materials were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, elemental analysis, liquid N₂ adsorption-desorption, water vapor and oxygen sorption, and subsequently tested for H₂S adsorption in a breakthrough column. The MOF in the composite adsorbents consisting of in-situ grown HKUST-1 on GO that was pre-functionalized with low molecular weight PEI exhibited the highest H₂S adsorption uptake at ambient conditions (0.9 mmol S g^-1 MOF) in comparison to 0.5 mmol S g^-1 MOF for the parent HKUST-1, thus showing an 80 % increase in uptake, while this material also exhibited significantly enhanced sorption kinetics. H₂S adsorption at higher temperature (150 °C) was also performed, and at this temperature a HKUST/GO hybrid adsorbent resulted in the highest MOF capacity, i.e. 2.1 mmol S g^-1 MOF, which is 27 % higher than that of the parent MOF at the same conditions. Formation of hybrid adsorbents with GO coupled to tunable functionalization of both GO support and the MOF crystallites can contribute in optimizing H₂S capture performance of MOFs.

Porous Material Screening and Evaluation for Deep Desulfurization of Dry Air

We employ molecular simulations to screen the best microporous materials for deep desulfurization of dry air. Pressure-swing adsorption and temperature-swing adsorption in desulfurization processes are investigated. The selectivity, working ability, selection parameters, and diffusivity of mixed gases are examined to evaluate those materials. The results show that UiO-66, ZIF-71, ZIF-69, and ZIF-97 exhibit good performance for the separation of H₂S from air. The selectivity and adsorption capacity of H₂S are larger than 300 and 0.01 mmol/g at room temperature and atmospheric pressure, respectively. UiO-66, ZIF-71, ZIF-69, MIL-100, Zn-DOBDC, ZnBDC, IRMOF-11, and MIL-140B are ideal materials to remove SO₂ in air. The selectivity of SO₂ is higher than 500 and the adsorption capacity is higher than 0.06 mmol/g. The diffusivity of sulfides is determined by the competition between the sterically hindered effect and the intermolecular synergistic effect. Comprehensive analysis found that zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are good materials for the removal of sulfides.

Adsorption and Diffusion of Benzene in Mg-MOF-74 with Open Metal Sites

We performed molecular simulations to investigate the adsorption and diffusion of benzene in metal-organic framework Mg-MOF-74. At 300 K and 20 Pa, the saturated loading of benzene reaches 8.2 mmol/g, almost twice of (12,12) single-walled carbon nanotube with a similar pore size, and 93% of the benzene molecules in Mg-MOF-74 can desorb at 390 K. The energy analysis indicates that the van der Waals contribution still dominates 70-80% of the total fluid-wall interaction energy compared with the Coulombic contribution. We further analyzed the structure of benzene confined in Mg-MOF-74 by the molecular snapshots, pair correlation functions, orientational order parameters, and local density profiles. It is found that low temperature and high pressure make the structure of adsorbed benzene more similar to that of the liquid benzene. Moreover, the benzene molecules in the contact adsorption layer lie flat on the surface of adsorbent, whereas those molecules near the pore center have no particular orientations. Due to the existence of open metal sites, the structures of adsorbed benzene are more compact and ordered than those of bulk liquid benzene. Consequently, the self-diffusion coefficient of saturated benzene in Mg-MOF-74 at 300 K is significantly lower than that of bulk liquid benzene and confined liquid benzene in slit pores and disordered carbons by 4-5 orders of magnitude. We investigated the separation and diffusion of benzene/cyclohexane in the mixture in Mg-MOF-74 and found that the pores almost completely adsorbed benzene, although its self-diffusion coefficient was slightly lower than that of cyclohexane.

Adsorption of Cyclohexane in Pure Silica Zeolites: High-Throughput Computational Screening Validated by Experimental Data

Adsorption of cyclohexane in pure silica zeolites was studied experimentally and by molecular simulations. Based on the adsorption isobars obtained from the quasi-equilibrated temperature adsorption and desorption (QE-TPDA) measurements and reported adsorption isotherms for high-silica zeolites Y, ZSM-5, and ZSM-11 we refined Lennard-Jones parameters for guest-host interactions available in the literature. Adsorption of cyclohexane from equimolar mixture of twisted-boat and chair conformations has been screened in 171 pure silica zeolitic structures using grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. Almost 20 frameworks showing extraordinary preference for adsorption of the chair conformation over the twisted boat one or vice versa were found. This selectivity was attributed to the geometry of channels and cavities present in the pore structures, as all t-boat selective structures possess channels or cavities of 8.3-9.1 Å. We also differentiated ways of chair-selectivity depending on the size and shape of the channels or cavities and also on the arrangement of the guest molecules in the pores.

Zeolites for CO2-CO-O2 Separation to Obtain CO2-Neutral Fuels

Carbon dioxide release has become an important global issue due to the significant and continuous rise in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations and the depletion of carbon-based energy resources. Plasmolysis is a very energy-efficient process for reintroducing CO₂ into energy and chemical cycles by converting CO₂ into CO and O₂ utilizing renewable electricity. The bottleneck of the process is that CO remains mixed with O₂ and residual CO₂. Therefore, efficient gas separation and recuperation are essential for obtaining pure CO, which, via water gas shift and Fischer-Tropsch reactions, can lead to the production of CO₂-neutral fuels. The idea behind this work is to provide a separation mechanism based on zeolites to optimize the separation of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and oxygen under mild operational conditions. To achieve this goal, we performed a thorough screening of available zeolites based on topology and adsorptive properties using molecular simulation and ideal adsorption solution theory. FAU, BRE, and MTW are identified as suitable topologies for these separation processes. FAU can be used for the separation of carbon dioxide from carbon monoxide and oxygen and BRE or MTW for the separation of carbon monoxide from oxygen. These results are reinforced by pressure swing adsorption simulations at room temperature combining adsorption columns with pure silica FAU zeolite and zeolite BRE at a Si/Al ratio of 3. These zeolites have the added advantage of being commercially available.

Theoretical study on the gas adsorption capacity and selectivity of CPM-200-In/Mg and CPM-200-In/Mg–X (–X = –NH2, –OH, –N, –F)

The CO₂ absorption capacity of MOFs at 273 K and 1 bar.

Guest dependent structure and acetone sensing properties of a 2D Eu3+ coordination polymer

A new 2D Eu³⁺ coordination polymer 1 has been constructed and investigated with its acetone sensing properties. In addition, the desolvated sample 1a reveals enhanced sensing sensitivity compared with that of 1 owing to its flexible structure.

Metal–organic frameworks for the removal of toxic industrial chemicals and chemical warfare agents

Toxic gases can be captured or degraded by metal–organic frameworks.

Metal-Organic Frameworks as a Potential Platform for Selective Treatment of Gaseous Sulfur Compounds

The release of various anthropogenic pollutants such as gaseous sulfur compounds into the environment has been accelerated as globalization has promoted the production of high-quality products at lower prices. Because of strict enforcement of mitigation technologies, advanced materials have been developed to efficiently remove gaseous sulfur compounds released from various source processes. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising materials to treat sulfur compounds via adsorption, catalysis, or separation. Nonetheless, the practical applicability of MOFs is limited by a number of factors including loss of structural integrity after use, limited reusability of spent MOFs, and low stability toward omnipresent molecules (e.g., H₂O). Here, we provide a comprehensive assessment of MOF technology for the effective control of gaseous sulfur compounds. This review will thus help expand the fields of real-world application for MOFs with a roadmap for this highly challenging area of research.

Molecular template-directed synthesis of microporous polymer networks for highly selective CO2 capture

Porous polymer networks have great potential in various applications including carbon capture. However, complex monomers and/or expensive catalysts are commonly used for their synthesis, which makes the process complicated, costly, and hard to scale up. Herein, we develop a molecular template strategy to fabricate new porous polymer networks by a simple nucleophilic substitution reaction of two low-cost monomers (i.e., chloromethylbenzene and ethylene diamine). The polymerization reactions can take place under mild conditions in the absence of any catalysts. The resultant materials are interconnected with secondary amines and show well-defined micropores due to the structure-directing role of solvent molecules. These properties make our materials highly efficient for selective CO2 capture, and unusually high CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 selectivities are obtained. Furthermore, the adsorbents can be completely regenerated under mild conditions. Our materials may provide promising candidates for selective capture of CO2 from mixtures such as flue gas and natural gas.