Magnetic metal-organic framework (MOF) composites show highly efficient CO2 desorption capacities upon their exposure to an alternating magnetic field, demonstrating a magnetic induction swing strategy for potentially low-energy regeneration of MOF adsorbents.

Porosity and surface area analysis play a prominent role in modern materials science. At the heart of this sits the Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) theory, which has been a remarkably successful contribution to the field of materials science. The BET method was developed in the 1930s for open surfaces but is now the most widely used metric for the estimation of surface areas of micro‐ and mesoporous materials. Despite its widespread use, the calculation of BET surface areas causes a spread in reported areas, resulting in reproducibility problems in both academia and industry. To prove this, for this analysis, 18 already‐measured raw adsorption isotherms were provided to sixty‐one labs, who were asked to calculate the corresponding BET areas. This round‐robin exercise resulted in a wide range of values. Here, the reproducibility of BET area determination from identical isotherms is demonstrated to be a largely ignored issue, raising critical concerns over the reliability of reported BET areas. To solve this major issue, a new computational approach to accurately and systematically determine the BET area of nanoporous materials is developed. The software, called “BET surface identification” (BETSI), expands on the well‐known Rouquerol criteria and makes an unambiguous BET area assignment possible.

Metal−organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising nanomaterials with unprecedented capacity to store small molecules. Despite this huge capacity, proposed methods for releasing these molecules are not yet feasible at a meaningful scale, largely because of the strong binding of the molecules and the thermally insulating nature of the adsorbent. It is likely that large amounts of energy would be required for operation at scale. Furthermore, the high adsorption capacity of MOFs is not typically matched by a high working capacity; adsorbed molecules are not readily retrieved. Here we show a series of magnetic framework composites (MFCs) synthesized from ferri-magnetic MgFe 2 O 4 nanoparticles and the Zr-based MOF UiO-66 can be deployed in a magnetic induction swing adsorption process for CO 2 capture and release. Exposure of the MFCs to an alternating current magnetic field resulted in the generation of heat by the embedded magnetic nanoparticle and fast release of CO 2 from the MOF, with an unprecedented 100% of adsorbed CO 2 released under a 42 mT field. This was achieved at a regeneration time of 240 s. The efficiency of the MISA process was shown to be dependent on the amount of MFC used, with efficiencies reaching 60% at just a gram scale. These local "nanoheaters" overcome the thermally insulating nature of the adsorbent, which has promising implications for use at scale. Additionally, the ability to access 100% of the adsorption capacity permits the use of strongly adsorbing, high-capacity MOFs that were previously discarded.