Scaling & Supramolecular Engineering of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs)

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are adsorbents that show promise in toxic chemical remediation, medical oxygen storage, high-value gas recovery, and multiple other military and civilian applications. However, a lack of quality-controlled supply limits these materials to laboratory environments. This work will borrow from industrial Quality practices to ensure supplied material conforms to specifications. Furthermore, this work will qualify alternate process technologies to both drive down cost and enable new applications. Process equipment for handling corrosive, small pore, and small particle syntheses will be explored, and formation options such as extrusion and fiber spinning will be validated on a kilogram scale. Finally, this work will tackle challenges unique to zirconium MOFs. Cost-effective NU-1000 analogs will be explored, and analytical techniques for measuring zirconium-based MOF defectiveness will be developed.