INS Studies of Cooperative Adsorption of Alkynes in Functional Metal-Organic Frameworks

Cooperative adsorption by porous materials shows significant potentials for challenging gas separation, because they often enable adsorbents with enhanced working capacity and selectivity. However, the mechanism on structural dynamics of host-guest binding remains poorly understood. We have recently developed a series of isostructural metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), namely MFU-4L-OH(M) (M = Co, Ni), which exhibit highly cooperative adsorption that results in exceptional binding with alkynes. In situ PXRD and IR spectroscopy suggests the presence of strong binding of alkynes during the cooperative adsorption. We request 5 days on TOSCA to investigate the binding dynamics of alkynes within these MOFs via in situ inelastic neutron scattering (INS) to gain full dynamic insights into sorption mechanism. This study will have significant impacts on removal of trace alkynes from lower olefins, an important process for polymer industry.