Metal-Organic Framework Materials with Ultrahigh Surface Areas: Is the Sky the Limit?

摘要

We have synthesized, characterized, and computationally simulated/validated the behavior of two new metal-organic framework (MOF) materials displaying the highest experimental Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface areas of any porous materials reported to date (～7000 m~2/g). Key to evacuating the initially solvent-filled materials without pore collapse, and thereby accessing the ultrahigh areas, is the use of a supercritical CO_2 activation technique. Additionally, we demonstrate computationally that by shifting from phenyl groups to "space efficient" acetylene moieties as linker expansion units, the hypothetical maximum surface area for a MOF material is substantially greater than previously envisioned (～14600 m~2/g (or greater) versus ～10500 m~2/g).