Selective Hydrogen Isotope Separation via Breathing Transition in MIL-53(Al)

Jin Yeong Kim, Linda Zhang, Rafael Balderas-Xicohténcatl, Jaewoo Park, Michael Hirscher, Hoi Ri Moon, Hyunchul Oh

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

89 Scopus citations

Abstract

Breathing of MIL-53(Al), a flexible metal-organic framework (MOF), leads to dynamic changes as narrow pore (np) transitions to large pore (lp). During the flexible and reversible transition, the pore apertures are continuously adjusted, thus providing the tremendous opportunity to separate mixtures of similar-sized and similar-shaped molecules that require precise pore tuning. Herein, for the first time, we report a strategy for effectively separating hydrogen isotopes through the dynamic pore change during the breathing of MIL-53(Al), a representative of flexible MOFs. The experiment shows that the selectivity for D2 over H2 is strongly related to the state of the pore structure of MIL-53(Al). The highest selectivity (SD2/H2 = 13.6 at 40 K) was obtained by optimizing the exposure temperature, pressure, and time to systematically tune the pore state of MIL-53(Al).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17743-17746
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of the American Chemical Society
Volume139
Issue number49
DOIs
StatePublished - 13 Dec 2017

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Selective Hydrogen Isotope Separation via Breathing Transition in MIL-53(Al)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this