Nanospace Engineering of Metal–Organic Frameworks for Adsorptive Gas Separation

Abstract

Gas separation is a critical process in the industrial production of chemicals, polymers, plastics, and fuels, which traditionally rely on energy-intensive cryogenic distillation techniques. In contrast, adsorptive separation using porous materials has emerged as a promising alternative, presenting substantial potential for energy savings and improved operational efficiency. Among these materials, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have garnered considerable attention due to their unique structural and functional characteristics. MOFs are a class of crystalline porous materials constructed from inorganic metal ions or clusters connected by organic linkers through strong coordination bonds. Their precisely engineered architectures create well-defined nanoscale spaces capable of selectively trapping guest molecules. In contrast to traditional porous materials such as zeolites and activated carbons, emerging MOFs not only demonstrate exceptional capabilities for pore regulation and interior modification through nanospace engineering but also hold great promise as a superior platform for the development of high-performance functional materials. By virtue of the isoreticular principle and building unit assembly strategies in MOF chemistry, precise adjustments to pore structures─including pore size, shape, and surface chemistry─can be readily achieved, making them well-suited for addressing the separation of intractable industrial gas mixtures, particularly those with similar sizes and physicochemical properties.