Unveiling Unexpected Modulator-CO2 Dynamics within a Zirconium Metal–Organic Framework

Carbon capture, storage, and utilization (CCSU) represents an opportunity to mitigate carbon emissions that drive global anthropogenic climate change. Promising materials for CCSU through gas adsorption have been developed by leveraging the porosity, stability, and tunability of extended crystalline coordination polymers called metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). While the development of these frameworks has yielded highly effective CO2 sorbents, an in-depth understanding of the properties of MOF pores that lead to the most efficient uptake during sorption would benefit the rational design of more efficient CCSU materials. Though previous investigations of gas–pore interactions often assumed that the internal pore environment was static, discovery of more dynamic behavior represents an opportunity for precise sorbent engineering. Herein, we report a multifaceted in situ analysis following the adsorption of CO2 in MOF-808 variants with different capping agents (formate, acetate, and trifluoroacetate: FA, AA, and TFA, respectively). In situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) analysis paired with multivariate analysis tools and in situ powder X-ray diffraction revealed unexpected CO2 interactions at the node associated with dynamic behavior of node-capping modulators in the pores of MOF-808, which had previously been assumed to be static. MOF-808-TFA displays two binding modes, resulting in higher binding affinity for CO2. Computational analyses further support these dynamic observations. The beneficial role of these structural dynamics could play an essential role in building a deeper understanding of CO2 binding in MOFs.