Xiansong Shi, He Li, Ting Chen, Yidan Duan, Dongchen Shi, Chengjun Kang, Zhaoqiang Zhang, Dan Zhao
{"title":"Selective liquid-phase molecular sieving via thin metal–organic framework membranes with topological defects","authors":"Xiansong Shi, He Li, Ting Chen, Yidan Duan, Dongchen Shi, Chengjun Kang, Zhaoqiang Zhang, Dan Zhao","doi":"10.1038/s44286-024-00096-4","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Separating fine and similarly sized targets in liquids is a crucial but challenging task. Although current membranes have the potential to be sustainable and energy-efficient options, their molecular selectivity and durability remain limited. Here we report robust and accurate molecular-sieving membranes created through the topological design of a Zr-based metal–organic framework, namely UiO-66, for use in durable liquid-phase separations. Our findings reveal that crystallizing UiO-66 using a bimetallic method yields distinctive reo-topology frameworks with periodic missing-cluster defects. We crystallize reo-UiO-66 into thin polycrystalline membranes that exhibit improved and robust performance, lasting for over 1,500 h. The modified Ferry transport model provides a quantitative description of solute rejection from the polycrystalline membrane. Multiple molecular-sieving experiments recognize excellent membrane selectivity to accurately discriminate fine complex mixtures with molecular weights below 350 g mol−1. In addition, our membrane demonstrates promise in purifying and recovering high-value pharmaceuticals and catalysts. This work paves the way for developing polycrystalline membrane technology for the sustainable separation of chemical mixtures in liquids. Efficiently separating high-value targets with small structural differences in liquids is important to the chemical industry. Here the authors develop a metal–organic framework-based membrane with engineered topologic defects for accurate and prolonged sieving of species with molecular weights below 350 g mol−1.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nature Chemical Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-024-00096-4","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Separating fine and similarly sized targets in liquids is a crucial but challenging task. Although current membranes have the potential to be sustainable and energy-efficient options, their molecular selectivity and durability remain limited. Here we report robust and accurate molecular-sieving membranes created through the topological design of a Zr-based metal–organic framework, namely UiO-66, for use in durable liquid-phase separations. Our findings reveal that crystallizing UiO-66 using a bimetallic method yields distinctive reo-topology frameworks with periodic missing-cluster defects. We crystallize reo-UiO-66 into thin polycrystalline membranes that exhibit improved and robust performance, lasting for over 1,500 h. The modified Ferry transport model provides a quantitative description of solute rejection from the polycrystalline membrane. Multiple molecular-sieving experiments recognize excellent membrane selectivity to accurately discriminate fine complex mixtures with molecular weights below 350 g mol−1. In addition, our membrane demonstrates promise in purifying and recovering high-value pharmaceuticals and catalysts. This work paves the way for developing polycrystalline membrane technology for the sustainable separation of chemical mixtures in liquids. Efficiently separating high-value targets with small structural differences in liquids is important to the chemical industry. Here the authors develop a metal–organic framework-based membrane with engineered topologic defects for accurate and prolonged sieving of species with molecular weights below 350 g mol−1.