More from the world of MOFs made by Strem Chemicals

More from the world of MOFs made by Strem Chemicals

MOF ZIF-8 makes a promising candidate, with strong structural characteristics, for heterogeneous applications

Porous Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs), which belong to the family of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs), are interesting materials because of their use in gas/liquid storage and separation.  ZIFs can also be used as heterogeneous catalysts for organic reactions.
Among the varieties of ZIFs, ZIF-8 is an exceptional material because of its structural, chemical and thermal stability. Zeolite-type tetrahedral nets of ZIF-8 are built of tetrahedral atoms of zinc, which are connected by 2-methylimidazole linkers. Compared to other ZIFs, ZIF-8 has larger pores (11.6 Å or 1.16 nm) which are accessible through small apertures of 3.4 Å (0.34 nm), a surface area of 1947 m²/g and a pore volume of 0.663 cm³/g. The product also exhibits excellent thermal stability up to 550 °C.^[1] CAS 59061-53-9        Strem  30-4015: Zinc 2-methylimidazole MOF ZIF-8

Building monomeric unit of ZIF-8

There are many potential applications for ZIF-8. Given its high porosity, this material can be used for storage of natural gas (where methane is a major constituent) and alkane separation from CO₂ in the petrochemical industry.^[2-3]  In addition, there are reports of it as a catalyst (Knoevenagel reaction), or as a catalyst support for metal nanoparticles.^[4] Also check out our website for more Metal Organic Frameworks offered by Strem:

References:

1.     Exceptional chemical and thermal stability of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks Park K S et al. PNAS 2006;103,10186-10191
2. (a) Separation of xylene isomers Micropor. Mesopor. Mat., 2013, 173, 1; (b) Separation of C6 Paraffins Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2012, 51, 4692; (c) Effective separation of propylene/propane binary mixtures  J. Membrane Sci., 2012, 93, 390.
3. (a) MOF-containing mixed-matrix membranes for CO₂/CH₄ and CO₂/N₂ binary gas mixture separations, Sep. Purif. Technol., 2011, 81, 31. (b) Porous polyethersulfone-supported Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework Membranes for hydrogen separation J. Phys.Chem. C., 2012, 116, 13264.
4. (a) Catalytic activity of ZIF-8 in the synthesis of styrene carbonate,  Chem. Commun., 2013, 32, 36.;  (b) Iridium nanoparticles stabilized by metal organic frameworks: synthesis, structural properties and catalytic performance  Dalton Trans., 2012, 41, 12690;  (c) Zeolitic imidazole frameworks: Catalysts in the conversion of carbon dioxide to chloropropene carbonate, ACS Catalysis, 2012, 2, 180; (d) Expanding applications of metal-organic frameworks: zeolite imidazolate framework ZIF-8 as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for the Knoevenagel reaction, ACS Catalysis, 2011, 1, 120.

Published on the 8th of June 2017