Synthesis and stability: Metal-organic frameworks exposure to water, sulfur dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide

Abstract

This dissertation explored the interaction that metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have with water and acid gases, such as sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, to develop structure property relationships. MOFs are a class of materials that have shown potential in a variety of applications including separation, catalysis, and storage. However, little is known regarding their interactions with acid gases, specifically SO2 and H2S, which are constituents commonly found in flue gases, sour natural gas, and in other industrial processes. Better understanding of these interactions is an important step in creating MOFs for industrial applications and is the focus of this dissertation. Equilibrium adsorption experiments, flow-through exposure measurements, and breakthrough measurements were collected in order to assess the MOFs adsorption and degradation properties when subject to water, SO2, and H2S. DMOF (DABCO MOF) was selected as a platform material to develop these trends. DMOF was selected as it is highly tailorable through both linker and metal substitutions, making it an ideal candidate material. After exploring the water and acid gas interactions in DMOF, this dissertation further explored UiO-66, ZIF-8, and Cu-BTC.