THE EFFECT OF PORE SIZE ON THE ADSORPTION OF GASES WITHIN METAL ORGANIC FRAMEWORKS

The discovery of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) has brought great excitement to the world of Chemistry, as these selective, tunable, porous crystalline structures are highly efficient at carbon capture at low energies. MOFs are also recyclable and have low desorption energies adding to their appeal. They are doubly attractive as most current carbon capture techniques are energy intensive, and as such very costly. This study looks at whether there is an ideal pore size for the adsorption of gases within these structures, specifically looking at the adsorption of Carbon dioxide (CO2) and Nitrogen (N2), at three different temperatures all at one pressure (atmospheric pressure). Using simulated data from an established database (The CRAFTED database[1]), it has been possible to clearly demonstrate that an optimal pore size exists for both CO2 and N2 adsorption, and that CO2 is selectively adsorbed over N2. These observations make MOFs incredibly valuable as they enable selective adsorption of carbon at low energies, and thus low cost.