Fluorine Incorporation for Enhanced Gas Separation Performance in Porous Organic Polymers: Investigating Reaction Pathways and Pore Structure Control

Abstract

The precise control of pore structures in porous organic polymer (POP) materials is of paramount importance in addressing a wide range of challenges associated with gas separation processes. In this study, we present a novel approach to optimize the gas separation performance of POPs through the introduction of fluorine groups and figure out an important factor of reaction decision that whether the AlCl 3 -catalyzed polymerization is Scholl reaction or Friedel−Crafts alkylation. In the chloroform system, the steric hindrance of function groups could make direct coupling between the benzene rings difficult, which would lead to part solvent knitting (Friedel−Crafts alkylation) instead. The fluorinated polymers show enhanced surface area and pore size characteristics. Notably, the fluorinated polymers exhibited significantly improved adsorption and separation performance for SF 6 , as evidenced by an ideal adsorbed solution theory selectivity (SF 6 /N 2 , v: v = 50:50, 273 K) increase of 75.0, 668.8, and 502.8% compared to the nonfluorinated POPs. These findings highlight the potential of fluorination as a strategy for tailoring the properties of POP materials for advanced gas separation applications.