Porous MOF/COF for Membrane Applications

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 May 2023) | Viewed by 12136

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and Fermentation Sciences, Appalachian State University, 525 Rivers Street, Boone, NC 28608, USA
Interests: metal-organic frameworks; covalent organic frameworks; organic polymers; environmental remediation; heterogeneous catalysis; sensing; C-H activation; mixed matrix membranes
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Membranes are at the forefront in nearly all areas of science and technology. The operation of membrane technology in the context of resource recovery and sustainable development has illustrated an eco-friendly potential for energy and environmental challenges. Porous crystalline metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent-organic frameworks (COFs) offer high surface area, thermal and chemical stability, tunable and uniform pore size, structural versatility, and a high degree of control over host-guest interactions. These intrinsic properties play pivotal roles in membrane technology to address critical challenges, including environmental remediation and fuel cells.

The advancements in the strategies of MOF/COF membrane fabrication address major challenges, including pinhole defects, grain-edge defects, inter-crystalline, and intra-crystalline cracks. However, membrane technologies are often hampered by a trade-off relationship between permeability and selectivity. Composite membranes designed by introducing porous materials as fillers tailor the pore size and shape to bolster high permeability and/or selectivity. This balance of trade-off phenomenon using porous materials is still in its infancy, therefore, the development and design of novel fillers is of profound importance for the large-scale production of composite membranes to address various challenges, including highly efficient separation of dyes, organics from water, hydrocarbon separation, and organic solvents. These untapped challenges may serve as breakthroughs in membrane science and technology.

This Special Issue aims to examine various synthetic strategies and characterization techniques of MOF and COF membranes, with a focus on various applications, including gas separations, liquid separations, sensors, and fuel cells. Within the scope of this Special Issue is not only an exploration of MOF/COF membranes but also of large-scale synthetic challenge under ambient conditions. Original research articles and reviews on different aspects of framework materials are welcome for this Special Issue.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Harsh Vardhan
Prof. Dr. Francis Verpoort
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • metal organic frameworks
  • covalent organic frameworks
  • nanofiltration
  • porous materials
  • water purification
  • gas separation
  • liquid separation
  • sensors
  • fuel cells
  • environmental remediation

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 4577 KiB  
Article
Enhancing Hydrogen Sulfide Detection at Room Temperature Using ZIF-67-Chitosan Membrane
by Ashraf Ali, Ahmed Alzamly, Yaser E. Greish, Reem H. Alzard, Hesham F. El-Maghraby, Naser Qamhieh and Saleh T. Mahmoud
Membranes 2023, 13(3), 333; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13030333 - 14 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1869
Abstract
Developing new materials for energy and environment-related applications is a critical research field. In this context, organic and metal–organic framework (MOF) materials are a promising solution for sensing hazardous gases and saving energy. Herein, a flexible membrane of the zeolitic imidazole framework (ZIF-67) [...] Read more.
Developing new materials for energy and environment-related applications is a critical research field. In this context, organic and metal–organic framework (MOF) materials are a promising solution for sensing hazardous gases and saving energy. Herein, a flexible membrane of the zeolitic imidazole framework (ZIF-67) mixed with a conductivity-controlled chitosan polymer was fabricated for detecting hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas at room temperature (RT). The developed sensing device remarkably enhances the detection signal of 15 ppm of H2S gas at RT (23 °C). The response recorded is significantly higher than previously reported values. The optimization of the membrane doping percentage achieved exemplary results with respect to long-term stability, repeatability, and selectivity of the target gas among an array of several gases. The fabricated gas sensor has a fast response and a recovery time of 39 s and 142 s, respectively, for 15 ppm of H2S gas at RT. While the developed sensing device operates at RT and uses low bias voltage (0.5 V), the requirement for an additional heating element has been eliminated and the necessity for external energy is minimized. These novel features of the developed sensing device could be utilized for the real-time detection of harmful gases for a healthy and clean environment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Porous MOF/COF for Membrane Applications)
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25 pages, 4884 KiB  
Article
Pervaporation Polyvinyl Alcohol Membranes Modified with Zr-Based Metal Organic Frameworks for Isopropanol Dehydration
by Anna Kuzminova, Mariia Dmitrenko, Andrey Zolotarev, Danila Myznikov, Artem Selyutin, Rongxin Su and Anastasia Penkova
Membranes 2022, 12(10), 908; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12100908 - 20 Sep 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2242
Abstract
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are perceptive modifiers for the creation of mixed matrix membranes to improve the pervaporation performance of polymeric membranes. In this study, novel membranes based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) modified with Zr-MOFs (MIL-140A, MIL-140A-AcOH, and MIL-140A-AcOH-EDTA) particles were developed for enhanced [...] Read more.
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are perceptive modifiers for the creation of mixed matrix membranes to improve the pervaporation performance of polymeric membranes. In this study, novel membranes based on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) modified with Zr-MOFs (MIL-140A, MIL-140A-AcOH, and MIL-140A-AcOH-EDTA) particles were developed for enhanced pervaporation dehydration of isopropanol. Two membrane types (substrateless–freestanding; and formed on polyacrylonitrile support-composite) were prepared. The additional cross-linking of membranes with glutaraldehyde was carried out to circumvent membrane stability in pervaporation dehydration of diluted solutions. The synthesized Zr-MOFs were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction analysis, and specific surface area measurement. The structure and physicochemical properties of the developed membranes were investigated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron and atomic force microscopies, thermogravimetric analysis, swelling experiments, and contact angle measurements. The PVA and PVA/Zr-MOFs membranes were evaluated in pervaporation dehydration of isopropanol in a wide concentration range. It was found that the composite cross-linked PVA membrane with 10 wt% MIL-140A had optimal pervaporation performance in the isopropanol dehydration (12–100 wt% water) at 22 °C: 0.15–1.33 kg/(m2h) permeation flux, 99.9 wt% water in the permeate, and is promising for the use in the industrial dehydration of alcohols. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Porous MOF/COF for Membrane Applications)
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Review

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14 pages, 3895 KiB  
Review
A Mini Review of Ceramic-Based MOF Membranes for Water Treatment
by Xueling Wang, Man Wang, Mingliang Chen and Yatao Zhang
Membranes 2023, 13(9), 751; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13090751 - 24 Aug 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2361
Abstract
Ceramic membranes have been increasingly employed in water treatment owing to their merits such as high-stability, anti-oxidation, long lifespan and environmental friendliness. The application of ceramic membranes mainly focuses on microfiltration and ultrafiltration processes, and some precise separation can be achieved by introducing [...] Read more.
Ceramic membranes have been increasingly employed in water treatment owing to their merits such as high-stability, anti-oxidation, long lifespan and environmental friendliness. The application of ceramic membranes mainly focuses on microfiltration and ultrafiltration processes, and some precise separation can be achieved by introducing novel porous materials with superior selectivity. Recently, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have developed a wide spectrum of applications in the fields of the environment, energy, water treatment and gas separation due to the diversity and tunable advantages of metal clusters and organic ligands. Although the issue of water stability in MOF materials inhibits the development of MOF membranes in water treatment, researchers still overcome many obstacles to advance the application of MOF membranes in water treatment processes. To the best of our knowledge, there is still a lack of a reviews on the development process and prospects of ceramic-based MOF membranes for water treatment. Therefore, in this review, we mainly summarize the fabrication method for ceramic-based MOF membranes and their application in water treatment, such as water/salt separation, pollutant separation, heavy metal separation, etc. Following this, based on the high structural, thermal and chemical stability of ceramic substrates, and the high controllability of MOF materials, the superiority and insufficient use of ceramic-based MOF membranes in the field of water treatment are critically discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Porous MOF/COF for Membrane Applications)
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41 pages, 4959 KiB  
Review
Large-Scale Synthesis of Covalent Organic Frameworks: Challenges and Opportunities
by Harsh Vardhan, Grace Rummer, Angela Deng and Shengqian Ma
Membranes 2023, 13(8), 696; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13080696 - 27 Jul 2023
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4218
Abstract
Connecting organic building blocks by covalent bonds to design porous crystalline networks has led to covalent organic frameworks (COFs), consequently transferring the flexibility of dynamic linkages from discrete architectures to extended structures. By virtue of the library of organic building blocks and the [...] Read more.
Connecting organic building blocks by covalent bonds to design porous crystalline networks has led to covalent organic frameworks (COFs), consequently transferring the flexibility of dynamic linkages from discrete architectures to extended structures. By virtue of the library of organic building blocks and the diversity of dynamic linkages and topologies, COFs have emerged as a novel field of organic materials that propose a platform for tailor-made complex structural design. Progress over the past two decades in the design, synthesis, and functional exploration of COFs in diverse applications successively established these frameworks in materials chemistry. The large-scale synthesis of COFs with uniform structures and properties is of profound importance for commercialization and industrial applications; however, this is in its infancy at present. An innovative designing and synthetic approaches have paved novel ways to address future hurdles. This review article highlights the fundamental of COFs, including designing principles, coupling reactions, topologies, structural diversity, synthetic strategies, characterization, growth mechanism, and activation aspects of COFs. Finally, the major challenges and future trends for large-scale COF fabrication are outlined. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Porous MOF/COF for Membrane Applications)
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