The kinetics and isotherms of adsorption of Myrothecium verrucaria bilirubin oxidase (Mv BOD) on nanoporous carbons (CNP) and carbon nanofibers (CNF) were studied by the solution depletion method. The kinetics of adsorption of Mv BOD on both carbons are very fast, reaching equilibrium within 10 min and 30 min for CNP and CNF, respectively. The adsorption isotherms reveal a strong affinity between Mv BOD and both carbons. An original flow-through device based on electrodes filled with CNP and CNF connected to an UV-vis spectrophotometer was used to correlate the dioxygen catalytic current reduction to the amount of Mv BOD adsorbed on the carbons. It was shown that although the amount of BOD adsorbed on CNP is much lower than the amount adsorbed on CNF, the currents are comparable, suggesting that the Mv BOD orientation is more favourable for direct electron transfer in the case of CNP. Chronoamperometry experiments showed that the catalytic current is stable for a few days (70 h). It was emphasized by stop and flow experiments that the current is limited by mass transport inside the column. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The present work shows the synthesis of nano-sized hybrid zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) with the rho topology based on a mixture of the linkers benzimidazole (bIm) and 4-methyl-5-imidazolecarboxaldehyde (4-m-5-ica). The hybrid ZIF was obtained by post-synthetic modification of ZIF-93 in a bIm solution. The use of different solvents, MeOH and N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), and reaction times led to differences in the quantity of bIm incorporated to the framework, from 7.4 to 23 % according to solution-state NMR spectroscopy. XPS analysis showed that the mixture of linkers was also present at the surface of the particles. The inclusion of bIm to the ZIF-93 nanoparticles improved the thermal stability of the framework and also increased the hydrophobicity according to water adsorption results. N2 and CO2 adsorption experiments revealed that the hybrid material has an intermediate adsorption capacity, between those of ZIF-93 and ZIF-11. Finally, ZIF-93/11 hybrid materials were applied as fillers in polybenzimidazole (PBI) mixed matrix membranes (MMMs). These MMMs were used for H2 /CO2 separation (at 180 °C) reaching values of 207 Barrer of H2 and a H2 /CO2 selectivity of 7.7 that clearly surpassed the Robeson upper bound (corrected for this temperature).

Water adsorbed in MIL-96(Al) proffers a significant increase in affinity for CO2 with only a limited decrease in uptake.

Polymorphs of Zn(2-nIm)(2) (compound 1) and Co(2-nIm)(2) (compounds 2 and 3) (2-nIm = 2-nitroimidazole) have been prepared by two routes: solvothermal synthesis and recrystallisation of ZIF-65(Zn/Co). Compounds 1 and 2 are isostructural, with a tetrahedrally-connected framework topology related to, but different from, that of tridymite (lonsdaleite). Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis showed that in compound 1 (Pccn, Z = 8; a = 8.462(8) angstrom, b = 14.549(15) angstrom, c = 18.799(18) angstrom, V = 2314(4) angstrom(3)) there is rotational disorder for two of the three crystallographically-distinct linker types, which has been investigated computationally and by solid-state NMR spectroscopy. Detailed adsorption studies on a sample of 1 prepared by recrystallisation show 1.1 mmol g(-1) uptake of CO2 at 0.1 bar (25 degrees C) with high affinity for CO2 over CH4 and N-2 (adsorption enthalpies of 39.5, 26.0 and 18.5 kJ mol(-1), respectively). A cobalt analogue (compound 2) with improved water stability (but lower porosity) has also been prepared. Changing the conditions of synthesis and recrystallisation gives rise to a cobalt 2-nitroimidazolate (Co(2-nIm)(2), compound 3), which has a layered structure (I4(1)/amd, a = 6.025(18) angstrom, c = 26.95(8) angstrom, V = 978.3(5) angstrom(3)) containing sheets of tetrahedrally-connected Co2+ cations composed of four membered rings, without porosity.

Force field-based and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations are combined with impedance spectroscopy experiments to reveal the high proton conduction performance of a three-dimensional titanium phosphate TiIVTiIV(HPO4)4 under humidity and further elucidate the microscopic mechanism at the origin of the proton transport throughout the porosity of this solid. The molecular simulations revealed that the POH groups in the structure act as a proton source, and the proton is transported from one pore to another through the hydrogen bond network formed by water molecules and the bridging O of the solid. Propitiously, besides its superprotonic behavior with a conductivity of 1.2 × 10–3 S cm–1 at room temperature and 95% relative humidity, this material is one of the best porous solids reported to date in terms of efficiency for proton transfer with a resulting activation energy (0.13 eV) as low as that reported for Nafion commercially used as electrolyte membrane in fuel cells. Furthermore, this solid shows a ...

A microporous Al trimesate-based metal-organic framework (MOF), denoted MIL-96-(Al), was selected as a porous hybrid filler for the processing of mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) for CO2/N-2 postcombustion separation. First, the structural model of MIL-96-(Al) initially reported was revisited using a combination of synchrotron-based single-crystal X-ray diffraction, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In a second step, pure MIL-96-(Al) crystals differing by their size and aspect ratio, including anisotropic hexagonal platelets and nanoparticles of about 70 nm in diameter, were prepared. Then, a combination of in situ IR spectroscopy, single-gas, and CO2/N-2 coadsorption experiments, calorimetry, and molecular simulations revealed that MIL-96-(Al) nanoparticles show a relatively high CO2 affinity over N-2 owing to strong interactions between CO2 molecules and several adsorption sites such as Al3+ Lewis centers, coordinated water, and hydroxyl groups. Finally, the high compatibility between MIL-96-(Al) nanoparticles and the 6FDA-DAM polymer allowed the processing of homogeneous and defect-free MMMs with a high MOF loading (up to 25 wt %) that outperform pure polymer membranes for CO2/N-2 separation.

MIL-91(Ti) is shown to be one of the very few MOFs of real interest for CO2 capture.

The selective CO2 adsorption performance of a series of functionalized small pore scandium terephthalate MOFs was explored by quantum and force-field-based molecular simulations. The NO2 derivative was predicted to be highly selective for CO, over N-2 and CH4, outperforming most of the MOFs as well as other classes of porous solids reported so far. The potential of this solid for physisorption based-applications was further confirmed by (i) an adsorbent performance indicator (API) which exceeds that previously evaluated for many MOFs, (ii) an easy regeneration under mild condition as revealed by high-throughput manometric adsorption experiments although a relatively high CO2 adsorption enthalpy was confirmed by microcalorimetry, and (ill) a good stability under moisture.