INS Studies of Porous Metal-Organic Frameworks for H2O/D2O Separation

The research of porous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is receiving considerable attention owing to their potential for gas adsorption and separation. We seek to develop highly robust MOF materials as effective water/heavy water (H2O/D2O) separation systems, relevant to nuclear industry, and request 6 days on TOSCA to study the binding interactions between adsorbed H2O/D2O and a series of Cu-based MOF materials (i.e., MFM-170 and MFM-170-Naph). This proposed study will investigate the vibrational properties exhibited by both adsorbed H2O/D2O and the porous hosts. These Cu-based materials exhibit distinct H2O/D2O adsorption capability, suggesting the presence of specific guest-host interactions. The proposed INS study aims to reveal the nature of the H2O/D2O uptake by analysing their vibrational/rotational spectra.