Advances in flexible and functional metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), also called soft porous crystals, are reviewed by covering the literature of the five years period 2009–2013 with reference to the early pertinent work since the late 1990s. Flexible MOFs combine the crystalline order of the underlying coordination network with cooperative structural transformability. These materials can respond to physical and chemical stimuli of various kinds in a tunable fashion by molecular design, which does not exist for other known solid-state materials. Among the fascinating properties are so-called breathing and swelling phenomena as a function of host–guest interactions. Phase transitions are triggered by guest adsorption/desorption, photochemical, thermal, and mechanical stimuli. Other important flexible properties of MOFs, such as linker rotation and sub-net sliding, which are not necessarily accompanied by crystallographic phase transitions, are briefly mentioned as well. Emphasis is given on reviewing the recent progress in application of in situ characterization techniques and the results of theoretical approaches to characterize and understand the breathing mechanisms and phase transitions. The flexible MOF systems, which are discussed, are categorized by the type of metal-nodes involved and how their coordination chemistry with the linker molecules controls the framework dynamics. Aspects of tailoring the flexible and responsive properties by the mixed component solid-solution concept are included, and as well examples of possible applications of flexible metal–organic frameworks for separation, catalysis, sensing, and biomedicine.

The development and design of efficient catalysts are essential for catalytic energy technologies, accompanied with the fundamental understanding of structure-property relationships of these catalysts. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), as the new class of promising catalysts, have been intensively investigated primarily in their fundamental electrochemistry and the broad spectrum of catalytic applications due to their structural flexibility, tailorable crystalline, and multi-functionality. In this work, we combine experiments and mechanism investigation to gain a fundamental understanding of how the surface property and the structure of MOFs affect their catalytic performance. With the aim of material design for MOFs catalysts, we developed two novel superhydrophilic and aerophobic metal-organic frameworks (AlFFIVE-1-Ni MOFs and FeFFIVE-1-Ni MOFs) used as electrocatalysts for the first time during oxygen evolution reactions (OER). Under the facilitation of hydrophilicity and aerophobicity, developed FeFFIVE-1-Ni MOFs electrocatalysts deliver optimal OER performance, better than that of the state-of-art RuO2 and referred NiFe-BDC MOFs electrocatalysts. Most importantly, the practical strategy demonstrated that the hydrophilic and aerophobic structure of MOFs does indeed deliver the optimal electrocatalytic performance. With the aim of investigating the structural transformation process of metal-organic framework, we used a series of advanced characterization techniques to monitor the structure evolution and defects presence for post-heating treated UiO-66 MOFs. The structural and electronic features of UiO-66 MOFs were intensely studied in their hydroxylated, dehydroxylated, defected, and pyrolytic forms. Meanwhile, one concept about the framework situation, quasi-MOF (like a transition state, defined high activation along the structure evolution corresponding to the presence of many defects), was presented and demonstrated. Compared with pristine UiO-66 MOF, the Quasi-MOF with the presence of active defects showed enhanced catalytic activity on the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction reaction, which offers an opportunity to understand the structure-property relationship along with the structure evolution process of UiO-66 MOFs.

Copper-based materials are one of the most promising catalysts for performing transformations of important organic compounds in both academic and industrial operations. However, it is challenging to consistently synthesize highly active and stable copper species as heterogeneous catalysts due to their relatively high surface energy. As a result, agglomeration usually occurs, which limits the catalytic activities of the copper species. The work presented in this dissertation shows different synthetic strategies for obtaining active and stable copper-based materials by modifying chemical/physical properties of copper nanoparticles (NPs). Emphasis is placed on discussing specific catalytic systems, including carbon-supported catalysts (monometallic and bimetallic copper-based heterogeneous catalysts) and titania-supported catalysts, and their advantages in terms of catalytic performance. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as a sacrificial template to obtain carbon-supported NPs via a thermolysis process. The advantages of using MOFs to prepare carbon supported nanomaterials are a fine distribution of active particles on carbon matrix without post-synthesis treatments and corresponding increased catalytic activity and stability in many reaction conditions. To better understand the potential of this synthetic approach, MOF pyrolyzed products have been characterized. Then, they were applied as heterogeneous catalysts for several chemical reactions. In particular, the high energy copper-based MOF, CuNbO-1, was decomposed to obtain an amorphous copper species supported on carbon (a-Cu@C). This catalyst was found to be highly active for reduction, oxidation, and N-arylation reactions without further tuning or optimization. Higher catalyst turnover numbers for each of these transformations were obtained when comparing a-Cu@C activity to that of similar Cu-based materials. To improve catalyst performance, a secondary metal can be introduced to create synergistic effects with the parent copper species. In order to gain insights into the role of the second metal, a well-known Cu-MOF, HKUST-1, was doped with nickel, cobalt, and silver solutions, followed by a decomposition process with 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) as additive. This additive was used to enhance the rapid thermolysis of the bimetallic MOFs. In these bimetallic systems, the addition of a second metal was found to help in dispersing both metals over the carbon composite support and in influencing the particle size and oxidation state of the metals. Catalytic performance showed that even <1% of a secondary metal increased the rate for nitrophenol reduction. Optimal catalytic performance was achieved using a Ni-CuO@C bimetallic catalyst. Another synthetic strategy for Cu-catalyst preparation involves using the deposition-precipitation method, in which a copper catalyst anchored on a titania support was synthesized at low weight % in order to obtain a single atom catalyst (1-Cu/TiO2). The higher copper loading catalyst, 5-Cu/TiO2, was synthesized as a benchmark catalyst for comparison. The copper structure in the synthesized catalysts was investigated by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), Raman, scanning transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (STEM-EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), N2 physisorption and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in order to characterize physical and chemical properties. STEM-EDX observations showed single atom copper species less than 0.75 nm in size, as well as nanoparticles with an average diameter of ~1.31 nm. This catalyst was highly active in the reduction of nitro-aromatic compounds with NaBH4 at room temperature. The small to atomic level sizes of the Cu species and multiple oxidation states of Ti species were found to play a crucial role in the catalytic activity.

In this study, pervaporation, a membrane-based process was studied for in-situ separation of butanol. This technique has a great potential due to its high selectivity, low energy requirement and high efficiency. The primary objective was to improve the performance of the Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) membrane for the pervaporation separation and the recovery of butanol by adding nanoparticles into its matrix to make mixed matrix membrane (MMM). These nanoparticles included zinc-based Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and zinc oxide. Different particle sizes of zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8) were synthesized. The separation performance of MMMs incorporating different sizes of ZIF-8 nanoparticles was compared to the performance of mixed matrix membranes incorporating zinc oxide as well as pure PDMS membrane. Different characteristics of ZIF-8 and their impact on the performance of the host membrane were discussed. Result showed that the presence of nanoparticles improves the PDMS membrane performance up to a certain particle loading. Moreover, it was shown that the particle size and interfacial bond between polymer and particles have a major impact on the pervaporation membrane separation process. The best membrane for pervaporation separation of butanol from binary aqueous solutions was obtained for the 8 wt% small-size ZIF-8/PDMS MMM where the total permeation flux and butanol selectivity were increased by 350% and 6%, respectively, compared to neat PDMS membranes. In addition to the MOFs, nanotubes are considered emerging nanostructured materials for use in membrane separation applications due to their high molecular diffusivity and unique geometry. Recent progress has also been made on the modification of nanotube surface functionality, and the fabrication of nanotube mixed matrix membranes as well as the ability to align them in MMMs. Since numerous types of nanotubes are available and the process of producing well-aligned nanotube MMMs is very challenging, a theoretical model using finite difference method (FD) was used to gain a deeper understanding on the effect of nanotubes on the separation performance of mixed matrix membranes. A series of numerical simulations were performed and the effects of various structural parameters, including the tubular filler volume fraction, orientation, length-to-diameter aspect ratio, and permeability ratio, were assessed. The results showed that the relative permeability is enhanced by vertically-aligned nanotubes and further increased with an increase of the permeability ratio, filler volume fraction and the length-to-diameter aspect ratio. In addition, comparing the simulation results with existing analytical models for the prediction of the relative permeability acknowledges a need to develop a new correlation that would provide more accurate predictions of the relative permeability of MMMs with embedded nanotube fillers.

Theoretical investigation of microporous materials for adsorption and catalysis Microporous materials are defined by a presence of pores with diameter smaller than 2 nm. They comprise a large variety of materials from amorphous materials to very well defined crystalline materials like zeolites or metal organic frameworks. Microporous materials are industrially very important group of materials used for adsorption, gas capture, molecular sieving, or heterogeneous catalysis. Zeolites are by far the most important group of microporous materials due to their use as catalysts for the petroleum cracking. One of the main limitations of the zeolite use in catalysis is their limited pore size. This obstacle can be solved by use of hierarchical zeolites with a secondary mesopore network which allows overcoming the diffusion problems. The aims of this study can be divided into two parts. In the first part, the structures of two-dimensional and hierarchical zeolites were investigated theoretically to identify the structure of new materials and to obtain reliable models to study the hierarchical zeolites. In the second part, the catalytic properties of several microporous materials were modelled to explain their experimental activity. The results of this thesis were used to identify the structure of a large...

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In der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde die Methode der Kernmagnetischen Resonanz im Niedrigfeld für poröse Materialien unter hohem statischen Gasdruck entwickelt, getestet und angewendet. Die Entwicklung erstreckte sich von dem Design des NMR-Sensors über der Aufbau mit der Hochdruckapparatur bis hin zur Inbetriebnahme. Mit diesem experimentellen Aufbau wurden zunächst aus der Literatur bekannte Wissenstand zu NMR-Experimenten mit Methan nachvollzogen und die technischen Eigenschaften erprobt. Diese Grundlagen wurden in die Untersuchung von porösen Proben überführt. Es wurden Adsorbtionskapazitäten bestimmt und Modelle für die Adsorbtion und Diffusion in den Poren entwickelt.:1. Einleitung 2. Grundlagen der kernmagnetischen Resonanz NMR 3. Entwicklung und Aufbau des NMR-Experiments für hohe Gasdrücke 4. Experimente zum Einstellen und Testen des Hochdruck-NMR-Sensors 5. Untersuchung von Proben mit Porenfluiden unter hohem statischen Druck mittels NMR 6. Zusammenfassung und Bewertung der Ergebnisse

Nanotechnology as a field has the potential to answer some of the major challenges that mankind faces in regards to environmental sustainability, energy generation and health care. Though, solutions to these concerns can not necessarily rely on our current knowhow. Instead, it is reasonable to expect that humanity must adapt and learn to develop new materials and methods to overcome the adversities that we are facing. This master thesis has involved developing novel materials, serving as a small step in the continuous march towards a bright future where this is possible. More specifically, this work sought to combine mesoporous magnesium carbonate with various metal-organic frameworks to utilize the beneficial aspects from each of these constituents. The ambition was that these could be joined to render combined micro-/mesoporous core-shell structures, with high surface areas and many active sites whilst maintaining a good permeability. Numerous different synthesis routes were developed and explored in the pursuit of viable routes to design novel materials with potential future applications within for instance drug delivery, water harvesting from air and gas adsorption. Coreshell structures of the hydrophilic mesoporous magnesium carbonate covered with the hydrophobic zeolitic imidazole framework ZIF-8 was successfully synthesized for the first time, and practical studies demonstrated a dramatically enhanced water stability, which is perceived to have an impact on further research on these materials. ZIF-67 was also combined with mesoporous magnesium carbonate in a similar manner. Further, Mg-MOF-74 was grown directly from mesoporous magnesium carbonate, where the latter acted as a partially self-sacrificing template, with the aim of rendering a porous hierarchical structure with contributions from the micro- and mesoporous ranges. The outcomes of all these syntheses were characterized using several analyzing methods such as scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive spectroscopy and nitrogen sorption analysis.

Les systèmes à délivrance de médicaments sont des technologies conçues pour administrer des molécules actives de façon optimisée afin d’améliorer leurs effets thérapeutiques tout en minimisant les effets secondaires. En effet, ces systèmes permettent une libération au niveau d’une cible thérapeutique. Les particules de type «cage» ont récemment attiré une attention particulière en raison de leur capacité accrue à (co)incorporer et à protéger des molécules actives vis-à-vis de dégradations in vivo. Les cyclodextrines (CDs) sont des exemples type de molécules "cage", possédant une cavité hydrophobe et une surface extérieure hydrophile. Nous avons élaboré tout d’abord des assemblages supramoléculaires à base de CDs d'environ 100 nm par une méthode douce consistant à mélanger deux solutions aqueuses de polymères neutres : 1) polymère de β-CD et 2) dextrane greffé avec la benzophénone, molécule invitée formant des complexes d’inclusion avec les CDs. La procédure de préparation « verte» en une seule étape rend la formulation attractive, malgré sa relativement faible capacité d’encapsulation (5%pds). Afin d'améliorer cete charge, nous avons élaboré des particules hybrides organiques-inorganiques (MOFs) à base de CDs. Avantageusement, les CD-MOF comportent non seulement des cavités de CD, mais aussi de larges pores engendrés lors l’auto-assemblage de CDs. Le lansoprazole a été incorporé avec succès (23%pds) dans les CD-MOFs et nous avons montré que chaque CDs était capable d’accueillir une molécule de principe actif. Cependant, l’inconvénient majeur des CD-MOFs est leur faible stabilité en milieu aqueux, limitant leur domaine d’application. Une modification de surface est apparue donc nécessaire pour améliorer leur stabilité. Notre stratégie a été d’incorporer les CD-MOFs dans des matrices d'acide polyacrylique (PAA). Des microsphères composites d’environ 650 nm ont été élaborées avec succès et ont permis une bonne stabilité et une libération prolongée sur plus de 48 h. Avantageusement, ces particules composites n’étaient pas toxiques in vitro même à des concentrations élevées. Ainsi, nous nous sommes orientés vers l’étude comparative de MOFs plus stables dans l’eau, à base de trimesate de fer. Les MIL-100 (Fe) (Material of Institute Lavoisier) figurent parmi les premiers MOF étudiés en tant que nanomédicaments (nanoMOFs). Ces particules, parfaitement stables dans l'eau, se dégradent dans des milieux contenant des phosphates en perdant rapidement leur caractère cristallin et leurs ligands constitutifs. De façon étonnante, nous avons constaté que malgré leur dégradation, ces MOFs conservent leur taille intacte. Une analyse approfondie basée sur la microscopie de Raman a permis d’obtenir des informations pertinentes sur la morphologie et la composition chimique de particules individuelles. Ainsi, il a été montré qu’un front d'érosion délimitait nettement un cœur intact et une coquillé inorganique érodée. Cependant, ni l’encapsulation ni la modification de surface des MOFs n’altérait leur intégrité. Enfin, nous avons étudié la co-encapsulation de deux molécules actives utilisées en combinaison (amoxicilline et clavulanate de potassium) dans les nanoMOFs stables à base de MIL-100 (Fe). Les antibiotiques ont été incorporées par imprégnation et chaque molécule s’est localisée préférentiellement dans un compartiment (large ou petite cage) corroborant parfaitement les simulations par modélisation moléculaire. De plus, il a été découvert, de manière surprenante, qu’un grand nombre de nanoMOFs se localisait au voisinage des bactéries (S.aureus) dans des cellules infectées. En se dégradant dans ces cellules, les nanoMOFs contenant les antibiotiques ont réduit de manière importante la charge bactérienne intracellulaire. Ces études révèlent le potentiel des particules de type «cage» pour une incorporation efficace de molécules actives et leur libération contrôlée et ouvrent de nombreuses possibilités d’application. / Drug delivery systems are engineered technologies to administer pharmaceutical ingredients to improve their therapeutic effects, aiming at minimizing their side effects by means of targeted delivery and/or controlled release. “Cage” particles recently drew special attention since they could act as “drug containers” which potentially load large amount of drugs, improve their stability and offer the possibilities to co-encapsulate synergetic drugs. Cyclodextrins (CDs) are typical “cage” molecules with a hydrophobic cavity and a hydrophilic outer surface. Taking advantage of the host-guest interactions between β-CD and benzophenone (Bz), CD based nanoparticles (CD-NPs) were the first formulation investigated. CD-NPs of around 100 nm were instantaneously produced by mixing two aqueous solutions of neutral polymers: 1) poly-CD containing β-CDs, and 2) Bz grafted Dex (Dex-Bz). The “green” and facile preparation procedure makes it attractive formulation, whereas its limitation lies on the low drug payloads (~ 5 wt%). In order to improve the drug loading capacity of CDs, porous CD based metal organic frameworks (CD-MOFs) were synthesized, which contain not only CD cavities, but also large pores built up by CDs self-assembly. Lansoprazole (LPZ) was incorporated in CD-MOF microcrystals (~ 6 µm) reaching payloads as high as 23.2 ± 2.1% (wt). Remarkably, each CD cavity was able to host a drug molecule, offering new opportunities for the use of CD-MOFs for drug delivery purposes. However, these particles disassembled in aqueous media, which limits their application for oral and intravenous administration. Surface modification is therefore necessary to improve their stability in water. The drug loaded CD-MOF nanocrystals (~ 650 nm) were successfully embedded in polyacrylic acid (PAA) polymer matrices. The composite microspheres exhibited spherical shapes and sustained drug release over a prolonged period of time (over 48 h). Drug loaded MOF/PAA composite microspheres were not toxic in vitro (cell viability ~ 90%) even at very high concentrations up to 17.5 mg/mL. MOF/PAA composite microspheres constitute an efficient and pharmaceutically acceptable MOF-based carrier for sustained drug release. However, the process of surface modification was complicated and lead to larger particles and reduced drug payloads. Water-stable MOFs are a novel type of hybrid particles, showing a high potential as drug carriers. Iron trimesate MOFs, namely, MIL-100 (Fe) (MIL stands for Material of Institute Lavoisier) was among the first nano-scaled MOFs used for drug delivery. These particles were stable in water but degraded in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) losing their crystallinity and constitutive trimesate linkers. However, it was discovered that they kept their morphology intact. A thorough analysis based on Raman microscopy was carried on to gain insights on both the morphology and chemical composition of individual particles. It was evidenced the formation of a sharp erosion front during particle degradation. Noteworthy, the MOFs did not degrade during drug loading nor surface modification. Co-encapsulation of two synergic antibiotics (amoxicillin and potassium clavulanate) in MIL-100 (Fe) nanoMOFs was achieved following a “green” procedure by soaking nanoMOFs in aqueous solutions of both drugs. Molecular modelling showed that each drug preferentially located in a separate nanoMOF compartment. Surprisingly, nanoMOFs were prone to co-localize with bacteria once internalized in infected macrophages. NanoMOFs acted synergistically with the entrapped drugs to kill intracellular S. aureus, in vitro. These results pave the way towards the design of engineered nanocarriers in which each component synergistically plays a role in fighting the disease. These studies unravel the potential of “cage” particles for efficient drug entrapment and controlled release and open numerous possibilities for applications.

La presente Tesis Doctoral consiste en la formación y desarrollo de hidratos de metano en el espacio confinado de nanomateriales porosos (carbones y MOFs) para ser utilizados como sistemas eficientes de almacenamiento de metano (gas natural). La tesis está dividida en dos secciones. En la primera sección, se explica el estado actual del arte y la necesidad de buscar alternativas a los sistemas de almacenamiento de metano por compresión y licuefacción. Además, se explican los materiales evaluados, así como las diferentes técnicas experimentales utilizadas para su caracterización, con especial énfasis en la caracterización de los hidratos de metano. En la segunda sección de la tesis, se recogen los resultados más relevantes en 5 capítulos. En el primer capítulo se estudian los procesos de congelación y fusión de agua en un carbón activado y el efecto que produce la aplicación de presión de metano en materiales semejantes en composición, pero diferente tamaño de poro. En el tercer capítulo se evalúa la formación de hidratos en un carbón activado con aditivos para promover cinética y termodinámicamente el crecimiento del mismos. En el cuarto capítulo se utiliza se utiliza agua marina y se compara sus efectos en los hidratos con respecto a agua destilada. En el quinto capítulo se seleccionan dos MOFs altamente porosos como alternativas a carbones para crecer cristales de hidratos.