Highly Selective Separation of CO2, CH4, and C2-C4 Hydrocarbons in Ultramicroporous Semicycloaliphatic Polyimides

A nanoporous organic polymer using 1, 3-dibromoadamantane as a crosslinker for adsorption/separation of benzene and cyclohexane

The development of nanoporous organic polymers with cycloaliphatic components for effective benzene (Bz) and cyclohexane (Cy) adsorption/separation poses a significant challenge. This work focuses on synthesizing NOP-Ad-1, a nanoporous organic polymer derived from a Friedel-Crafts reaction between cycloaliphatic 1,3-dibromadantane and aromatic hexaphenylbenzene. At 298 K and P/P0 = 0.95, NOP-Ad-1 can uptake 989 mg g-1 benzene and 441 mg g-1 cyclohexane. Moreover, as the benzene vapor ratio increased from 20% to 80%, the Bz/Cy selectivity of NOP-Ad-1 gradually decreased from 1.75 to 1.24. These findings highlight the potential application of NOP-Ad-1 in the adsorption/separation of Bz/Cy mixtures.

Ultra-stable fully-aromatic microporous polyamide membrane for molecular sieving of nitrogen over volatile organic compound

Microporous polymer membranes are promising candidates for industrial membrane-based gas separation because of their high separation performance. However, their relatively low stability due to the local rearrangement of polymer chains during usage remains a problem. Hence, we propose the construction of a fully aromatic polymer structure in a microporous polymer membrane to enhance membrane stability. Four triptycene-based microporous polyamides were synthesized via the polymerization of 2,6,14-triaminotriptycene with aromatic acyl chloride and/or aliphatic acyl chlorides. Their properties were characterized and compared by using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analyses. The synthesized polyamides were fabricated into composite membranes by employing a solution process; their stability was evaluated for the molecular sieving of nitrogen over volatile organic compounds such as cyclohexane. Low-field NMR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to investigate the differences in the properties of membranes with different structures at different times. The results showed that the fully aromatic polyamide membrane made from 2,6,14-triaminotriptycene and aromatic acyl chloride displayed constant rejection (99 %) and nitrogen permeability (approximately 50 Barrer) for the molecular sieving of nitrogen over cyclohexane during 100-d experiments, indicating good stability. This approach paves the way for the industrialization of microporous polymer membranes from a theoretical perspective.

Carbon dioxide adsorbents from flame-made diesel soot nanoparticles

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is the top contributor to global warming. On the other, soot particles formed during fuel combustion and released into the atmosphere are harmful and also contribute to global warming. It would therefore be highly advantageous to capture soot and make use of it as a feedstock to synthesize carbon-based materials for applications such as carbon dioxide adsorption. In this work, flame-made diesel soot nanoparticles were used to produce a variety of activated carbons by combined oxidative treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and potassium hydroxide (KOH), and their performance towards CO₂ adsorption was evaluated. The effect of the chemical activation of soot with H₂O₂ for different reaction times and with KOH on the physicochemical properties of the activated carbons was investigated and compared to fresh soot. Interestingly, hollow aggregates of carbonaceous nanoparticles of a high interplanar distance, reduced polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) size, shorter PAH stacks, mesoporous structure, and a high content of oxygen functionalities along with other structural defects in PAHs were obtained in the synthesized activated carbons. Among the various analysis techniques employed, Raman spectroscopy indicated that the I_D/I_G ratio in soot decreased after simultaneous chemical treatment, though it did not indicate any enhancement in the graphitic character since the carbonyl and carboxylic containing PAHs and monovacancies (which cause defects in PAHs) also contribute to the increase in the intensity of the graphitic band. The activated carbons possessed promising CO₂ adsorption capacities, adsorption kinetics and CO₂/N₂ selectivity. For example, one of the activated carbons, following H₂O₂ treatment for 9 h and a subsequent KOH activation, exhibited a CO₂ adsorption capacity of 1.78 mmol/g at 1 bar and 25 °C, representing an increase of 161 % in capacity as compared to fresh soot. Hollow aggregates of carbonaceous nanoparticles consisting of shorter PAHs with a larger number of defects led to enhanced CO₂ adsorption rate and CO₂/N₂ selectivity on activated carbons.

Facile Synthesis of Microporous Ferrocenyl Polymers Photocatalyst for Degradation of Cationic Dye

Microporous organic polymers (MOPs) were prepared by condensation reactions from substituent-group-free carbazole and pyrrole with 1,1′-ferrocenedicarboxaldehyde without adding any catalysts. The resultant MOPs were insoluble in common solvent and characterized by FTIR, XPS, TGA and SEM. An N₂ adsorption test showed that the obtained polymers PFcMOP and CFcMOP exhibited Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface areas of 48 and 105 m² g⁻¹, respectively, and both polymers possessed abundant micropores. The MOPs with a nitrogen and ferrocene unit could be potentially applied in degrading dye with high efficiency.

A facile one-pot preparation of porphyrin-based microporous organic polymers for adsorption of carbon dioxide, ethane, and methane

Achieving a cost-effective preparation of 3D porphyrin-based microporous organic polymers (PMOPs) for the adsorption and separation of carbon dioxide (CO2), ethane (C2H6), and methane (CH4) remains difficult.

Two porous Ni-MOFs based on 2,4,6-tris(pyridin-4-yl)-1,3,5-triazine showing solvent determined structures and distinctive sorption properties toward CO2 and alkanes

By regulating the solvent used for synthesis, two porous Ni-MOFs, namely {[Ni3(BTC)2(TPT)2/3(H2O)4.08(MeOH)0.92]·2DMF·0.5H2O·0.5MeOH}n (1) and {[Ni3(BTC)2(TPT)2(H2O)6]·6DMF}n (2) (H3BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid, TPT = 2,4,6-tris(pyridin-4-yl)-1,3,5-triazine, DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide, and MeOH = methanol) were obtained. Compound 1 reveals a rigid 3D framework, while compound 2 shows a flexible 3-fold interpenetrated framework. Compound 1 exhibits a selective adsorption of CO2 due to the sieving effect of the rigid framework containing two types of cages with small apertures. Noteworthily, the flexible compound 2 displays an obviously guest-induced structural transformation. The desolvated compound 2 reveals a much higher capacity toward CO2 and n-C4H10 than those of N2 CH4, C2H6 and C3H8.

Effect of Pore Connectivity on the Behavior of Fluids Confined in Sub-Nanometer Pores: Ethane and CO2 Confined in ZSM-22

The behavior of fluids under nano-confinement varies from that in bulk due to an interplay of several factors including pore connectivity. In this work, we use molecular dynamics simulations to study the behavior of two fluids—ethane and CO₂ confined in ZSM-22, a zeolite with channel-like pores of diameter 0.55 nm isolated from each other. By comparing the behavior of the two fluids in ZSM-22 with that reported earlier in ZSM-5, a zeolite with pores of similar shape and size connected to each other via sinusoidal pores running perpendicular to them, we reveal the important role of pore connectivity. Further, by artificially imposing pore connectivity in ZSM-22 via inserting a 2-dimensional slab-like inter-crystalline space of thickness 0.5 nm, we also studied the effect of the dimensionality and geometry of pore connectivity. While the translational motion of both ethane and CO₂ in ZSM-22 is suppressed as a result of connecting the pores by perpendicular quasi-one-dimensional pores of similar dimensions, the effect of connecting the pores by inserting the inter-crystalline space is different on the translational motion of the two fluids. For ethane, pores connected via inter-crystalline space facilitate translational motion but suppress rotational motion, whereas in the case of CO₂, both types of motion are suppressed by pore connection due to the strong interaction of CO₂ with the surface of the substrate.

Microporous polyimide VOC-rejective membrane for the separation of nitrogen/VOC mixture

The treatment of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) in waste streams is very important. Herein, we propose to use a network microporous polyimide (PI) membrane for the molecular sieving of nitrogen over VOC molecules to control their emission. 2,6,14-triaminotriptycene (Trip) was reacted with aromatic dianhydride monomers, such as 3,3',4,4'-benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA), to synthesize ultramicroporous polyimides, which readily form composite membranes via solution coating. The properties of the PIs were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Brunner-Emmet-Teller (BET) analysis, etc., which validated the formation of a network structure and ultramicroporosity in these polyimides. Therefore, the outstanding separation performance for the separation of nitrogen over VOCs, such as cyclohexane, by molecular sieving was obtained by using these membranes; a rejection higher than 99 % was realized with a permeability of approximately 2000∼2600 Barrer under a temperature of 25 °C and feed concentration of 30,000 ± 2000 ppm. Finally, the stability of the Trip-BTDA-PI membrane over time was studied.

Crosslinked porous polyimides: structure, properties and applications

Porous polyimides (pPIs) represent a fascinating class of porous organic polymers (POPs). Here the properties and functions of amorphous and crystalline pPIs are reviewed, and applications contributing to solutions to global challenges highlighted.

Probing the performance of imide linked micro-porous polymers for enhanced CO2 gas adsorption applications

Microporous polyimides were synthesized and utilized for CO2 gas adsorption.

CO2 Adsorption in Metal-Organic Framework Mg-MOF-74: Effects of Inter-Crystalline Space

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOF) have been identified as highly efficient nanoporous adsorbents for CO₂ storage. In particular, Mg-MOF-74 has been shown to promise exceptionally high CO₂ sorption. Although several studies have reported adsorption isotherms of CO₂ in Mg-MOF-74, the effect of inter-crystalline spacing in Mg-MOF-74 on the sorption of CO₂ has not been addressed. These effects have been shown to be profound for a quadrupolar molecule like CO₂ in the case of silicalite (Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 22 (2020) 13951). Here, we report the effects of inter-crystalline spacing on the adsorption of CO₂ in Mg-MOF-74, studied using grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations. The inter-crystalline spacing is found to enhance adsorption at the crystallite surfaces. Larger inter-crystalline spacing up to twice the kinetic diameter of CO₂ results in higher adsorption and larger crystallite sizes suppress adsorption. Magnitudes of the inter-crystalline space relative to the kinetic diameter of the adsorbed fluid and the surface to volume ratio of the adsorbent crystallites are found to be important factors determining the adsorption amounts. The results of this study suggest that the ideal Mg-MOF-74 sample for CO₂ storage applications should have smaller crystallites separated from each other with an inter-crystalline space of approximately twice the kinetic diameter of CO₂.

Microporous polyimides with high surface area and CO2 selectivity fabricated from cross-linkable linear polyimides

Linear polyimides of intrinsic microporosity have been intensively investigated for gas separation due to their microporous structure and high surface area. The microporous structure in the linear polyimides of intrinsic microporosity comes from their contorted structure. Therefore, most linear polyimides without contorted structure do not have micropores. In this work, the microporous polyimides are constructed through the condensation of a cross-linkable dianhydride monomer with two novel nitrogen-rich diamine monomers and post crosslinking reaction. The linear polyimide precursors without contorted structure have the same main-chain structure. The introduction of crosslinked structure endow the crosslinked polyimides (PI-CLs) with microporous structure. The microporous structure in PI-CLs can be tuned by changing the substituents of the linear polyimide precursors. The PI-CLs have competitive CO₂ uptake capacity (7.3-9.4 wt%) at 273 K and 1 bar. Particularly, the crosslinked polyimide containing trifluoromethyl groups (CF₃-PI-CL) shows high CO₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ selectivity (72 and 22) at 273 K, which are among the best results for reported porous materials. This work reveals that the introduction of crosslinked structure and changing substituents is an efficient method for constructing microporous polyimides with abundant micropores and excellent CO₂ selective adsorption capacity. This method also has great potential for fabricating high-performance microporous polymers based on other linear polymers without rigid contorted structure.

Micro- and Ultramicroporous Polyaminals for Highly Efficient Adsorption/Separation of C1-C3 Hydrocarbons and CO2 in Natural Gas

This paper presents a series of micro- and ultramicroporous polyaminals with BET surface areas up to 1304 m² g^-1, which are prepared from two triazine-based tetraamines and three dialdehydes or monoaldehyde through the A₄ + B₂ or A₄ + B₁ aminalization reaction. It is interesting to find that the para-substituted monomers are favorable to force the linking struts apart in the network to generate micropores (1.22 nm), whereas the meta-substituted monomers make the pores in the network squeezed by the twisted linking struts, resulting in the formation of ultramicropores (0.52 nm). Besides, the adsorption behaviors of the major components of natural gas, such as propane (C₃H₈), ethane (C₂H₆), methane (CH₄), and carbon dioxide (CO₂), are significantly different, strongly depending on the polarizabilities, critical temperatures, molecular sizes of gases, porosity parameters of polymers, and the interaction between gases and the polymer skeleton. At 298 K/1 bar, the polymers show high uptake for C₃H₈ (114.5 cm³ g^-1) and C₂H₆ (84.2 cm³ g^-1). Moreover, the adsorption selectivities of C₃H₈/CH₄, C₂H₆/CH₄, C₃H₈/C₂H₆, C₃H₈/CO₂, C₂H₆/CO₂, and CO₂/CH₄ also reach 296.3, 23.1, 9.0, 22.1, 4.1, and 5.0, respectively, exhibiting promising applications in adsorption/separation of C₁-C₃ hydrocarbons and stripping CO₂ gas from natural gas under the ambient condition.

Exceptionally Stable Microporous Organic Frameworks with Rigid Building Units for Efficient Small Gas Adsorption and Separation

Three microporous organic frameworks (hereafter denoted as MPOF-Ads) based on a rigid adamantane core have been successfully synthesized via Sonogashira-Hagihara polycondensation coupling in high yields, 83.7-94.6%. The obtained amorphous MPOF-Ads networks have high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface areas (up to 737.3 m² g^-1), narrow pore size distribution (0.95-1.06 nm), and superior thermal (the initial decomposition temperature T_5% under an N₂ atmosphere can reach 410 °C) and chemical stability (no apparent degradation in common organic solvents or strong acid/base solutions after 7 days). At 273 K and 1.0 bar, these MPOF-Ads networks present good uptake capacities for small gas molecules (13.9 wt % CO₂ and 1.66 wt % CH₄) for which the presence of high surface area, predominant microporosity, and narrow pore size distribution are beneficial. In addition, the as-prepared MPOF-Ads networks possess moderate isosteric heats for CO₂ (Q_st = 19.5-30.3 kJ mol^-1) and show desired CO₂/N₂ and CO₂/CH₄ selectivity (36.3-38.4 and 4.1-4.3 based on Henry's law and 17.88-24.92 and 4.24-5.70 based on ideal adsorbed solution theory, respectively). With the demonstrated properties, the synthesized MPOF-Ads networks display potential for small gas storage and separation that can be used in harsh environments because of their superior physical and chemical stability.

Synthesis of Porous Organic Polymers with Tunable Amine Loadings for CO2 Capture: Balanced Physisorption and Chemisorption

The cross-coupling reaction of 1,3,5-triethynylbenzene with terephthaloyl chloride gives a novel ynone-linked porous organic polymer. Tethering alkyl amine species on the polymer induces chemisorption of CO₂ as revealed by the studies of ex situ infrared spectroscopy. By tuning the amine loading content on the polymer, relatively high CO₂ adsorption capacities, high CO₂-over-N₂ selectivity, and moderate isosteric heat (Q_st) of adsorption of CO₂ can be achieved. Such amine-modified polymers with balanced physisorption and chemisorption of CO₂ are ideal sorbents for post-combustion capture of CO₂ offering both high separation and high energy efficiencies.

Cost-effective preparation of microporous polymers from formamide derivatives and adsorption of CO2 under dry and humid conditions

Nitrogen-rich microporous polymers are prepared via a catalyst-free polymerization reaction using formamide derivatives as monomers, which exhibit outstandingly high CO₂/N₂ selectivity up to 151 and 173 at 273 K under dry and humid conditions, respectively.

Construction and carbon dioxide capture of microporous polymer networks with high surface area based on cross-linkable linear polyimides

Microporous polyimide networks with high surface area and excellent CO₂ adsorption performance have been constructed based on cross-linkable linear polyimides through crosslinking reaction.

Membranes with Intrinsic Micro-Porosity: Structure, Solubility, and Applications

Microporous polymer membranes have been widely studied because of their excellent separation performance. Among them, polymers of intrinsic micro-porosity (PIMs) have been regarded as a potential next-generation membrane material for their ultra-permeable characteristics and their solution-processing ability. Therefore, many reviews have been reported on gas separation and monomers for the preparation of PIMs. This review aims to provide an overview of the structure-solubility property. Different structures such as non-network and network macromolecular structure made of different monomers have been reviewed. Then their solubility with different structures and different separation applications such as nanofiltration, pervaporation, and gas/vapor separation are summarized. Lastly, we also provide our perspectives on the challenges and future directions of the microporous polymer membrane for the structure-property relationship, anti-physical aging, and more.