Conventional SO2 scrubbing agents, namely calcium oxide and zeolites, are often used to remove SO2 using a strong or irreversible adsorption-based process. However, adsorbents capable of sensing and selectively capturing this toxic molecule in a reversible manner, with in-depth understanding of structure–property relationships, have been rarely explored. Here we report the selective removal and sensing of SO2 using recently unveiled fluorinated metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). Mixed gas adsorption experiments were performed at low concentrations ranging from 250 p.p.m. to 7% of SO2. Direct mixed gas column breakthrough and/or column desorption experiments revealed an unprecedented SO2 affinity for KAUST-7 (NbOFFIVE-1-Ni) and KAUST-8 (AlFFIVE-1-Ni) MOFs. Furthermore, MOF-coated quartz crystal microbalance transducers were used to develop sensors with the ability to detect SO2 at low concentrations ranging from 25 to 500 p.p.m.

A series of MOFs–CaCl2 composite sorbents was developed for seasonal heat storage which combine outstanding energy capacity and cycling stability.

Titanium metal-organic framework (Ti-MOF) is an unexploited area due to its unpredictable chemistry in solution and, thus, the challenge of controlling the reaction process and product. By linker exchange with a Ti 8 O 8 cluster precursor, the first green scalable controlled synthesis of a Ti-MOF structure is achieved following both post-synthetic and one-pot reaction routes. The chemical functionality and environment of the MOF pore could be tuned easily by mixed linker, resulting in an adjustable performance in CO 2 capture over N 2 .

A new series of 3-D coordination polymers based on iron(III) and nickel(II) tetracarboxylate porphyrin (Ni-TCPP) have been produced using solvothermal conditions. MIL-141(A) solids (MIL stands for Material from Institut Lavoisier), formulated Fe(Ni-TCPP)A•(DMF) x  (A = Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, DMF = N,N-dimethylformamide, x ∼ 3), are built up from three anionic interpenetrated PtS-type networks charge-balanced by alkali cations (A) entrapped inside the pores. MIL-141(A) thus includes three types of cations, two of which may act as coordinatively unsaturated metal sites (Ni2+ and A+). These solids all present a permanent porosity with a reasonably high surface area (SBET = 510–860 m2 g–1) as well as some structural flexibility toward adsorption/desorption processes, modulated in both cases by the nature of A. Thermally Stimulated Current (TSC) measurements indicated that alkali cations are rather homogeneously distributed within the pores, while their interaction with the framework is stronger in MIL-141(A) than in the analogous cation-containing Faujasites X and Y zeolites. Finally, high pressure adsorption isotherms of N2 and O2 were measured. Whereas alkali ion-containing zeolites adsorb selectively N2 toward O2, the opposite is observed for MIL-141(A). This result is interpreted in light of the TSC data and the possible preferential interaction of the porphyrinic linker with O2.

Carbon dioxide is the main undesirable compound present in raw natural gas and biogas. Physisorption based adsorption processes such as pressure swing adsorption (PSA) are one of the solutions to selectively adsorb CO(2) from CH(4). Some hybrid crystalline porous materials that belong to the family of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) show larger CO(2) adsorption capacity compared to the usual industrial adsorbents, such as zeolites and most activated carbons, which makes them potentially promising for such applications. However, their selectivity values have been most often determined using only single gas adsorption measurements combined with simple macroscopic thermodynamic models or by means of molecular simulations based on generic forcefields. The transfer of this systematic approach to all MOFs, whatever their complex physico-chemical features, needs to be considered with caution. In contrast, direct co-adsorption measurements collected on these new materials are still scarce. The aim of this study is to perform a complete analysis of the CO(2)-CH(4) co-adsorption in the mesoporous MIL-100(Cr) MOF (MIL stands for Materials from Institut Lavoisier) by means of a synergic combination of outstanding experimental and modelling tools. This solid has been chosen both for its fundamental interests, given its very large CO(2) adsorption capacities and its complexity with a combination of micropores and mesopores and the existence of unsaturated accessible metal sites. The predictions obtained by means of Grand Canonical Monte Carlo simulations based on generic forcefields as well as macroscopic thermodynamic (IAST, RAST) models will be compared to direct the co-adsorption experimental data (breakthrough curve and volumetric measurements).