skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Stress-induced chemical detection using flexible metal-organic frameworks.

Abstract

In this work we demonstrate the concept of stress-induced chemical detection using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) by integrating a thin film of the MOF HKUST-1 with a microcantilever surface. The results show that the energy of molecular adsorption, which causes slight distortions in the MOF crystal structure, can be efficiently converted to mechanical energy to create a highly responsive, reversible, and selective sensor. This sensor responds to water, methanol, and ethanol vapors, but yields no response to either N{sub 2} or O{sub 2}. The magnitude of the signal, which is measured by a built-in piezoresistor, is correlated with the concentration and can be fitted to a Langmuir isotherm. Furthermore, we show that the hydration state of the MOF layer can be used to impart selectivity to CO{sub 2}. We also report the first use of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to characterize the structure of a MOF film. We conclude that the synthetic versatility of these nanoporous materials holds great promise for creating recognition chemistries to enable selective detection of a wide range of analytes. A force field model is described that successfully predicts changes in MOF properties and the uptake of gases. This model is used to predict adsorption isotherms for amore » number of representative compounds, including explosives, nerve agents, volatile organic compounds, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The results show that, as a result of relatively large heats of adsorption (> 20 kcal mol{sup -1}) in most cases, we expect an onset of adsorption by MOF as low as 10{sup -6} kPa, suggesting the potential to detect compounds such as RDX at levels as low as 10 ppb at atmospheric pressure.« less

Authors:
;  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]; ;  [2]
  1. (Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA)
  2. (National Institute of Standards & Technology, Gaithersburg, MD)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Laboratories
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
993628
Report Number(s):
SAND2009-6185
TRN: US201024%%96
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
10 SYNTHETIC FUELS; 36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; ADSORPTION; ADSORPTION ISOTHERMS; ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE; CRYSTAL STRUCTURE; DETECTION; ETHANOL; EXPLOSIVES; GASES; HYDRATION; HYDROCARBONS; ISOTHERMS; METHANOL; NERVES; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS; RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY; THIN FILMS; WATER

Citation Formats

Allendorf, Mark D., Hesketh, Peter J., Gall, Kenneth A., Choudhury, A., Pikarsky, J., Andruszkiewicz, Leanne, Houk, Ronald J. T., and Talin, Albert Alec. Stress-induced chemical detection using flexible metal-organic frameworks.. United States: N. p., 2009. Web. doi:10.2172/993628.
Allendorf, Mark D., Hesketh, Peter J., Gall, Kenneth A., Choudhury, A., Pikarsky, J., Andruszkiewicz, Leanne, Houk, Ronald J. T., & Talin, Albert Alec. Stress-induced chemical detection using flexible metal-organic frameworks.. United States. doi:10.2172/993628.
Allendorf, Mark D., Hesketh, Peter J., Gall, Kenneth A., Choudhury, A., Pikarsky, J., Andruszkiewicz, Leanne, Houk, Ronald J. T., and Talin, Albert Alec. Tue . "Stress-induced chemical detection using flexible metal-organic frameworks.". United States. doi:10.2172/993628. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/993628.
@article{osti_993628,
title = {Stress-induced chemical detection using flexible metal-organic frameworks.},
author = {Allendorf, Mark D. and Hesketh, Peter J. and Gall, Kenneth A. and Choudhury, A. and Pikarsky, J. and Andruszkiewicz, Leanne and Houk, Ronald J. T. and Talin, Albert Alec},
abstractNote = {In this work we demonstrate the concept of stress-induced chemical detection using metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) by integrating a thin film of the MOF HKUST-1 with a microcantilever surface. The results show that the energy of molecular adsorption, which causes slight distortions in the MOF crystal structure, can be efficiently converted to mechanical energy to create a highly responsive, reversible, and selective sensor. This sensor responds to water, methanol, and ethanol vapors, but yields no response to either N{sub 2} or O{sub 2}. The magnitude of the signal, which is measured by a built-in piezoresistor, is correlated with the concentration and can be fitted to a Langmuir isotherm. Furthermore, we show that the hydration state of the MOF layer can be used to impart selectivity to CO{sub 2}. We also report the first use of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to characterize the structure of a MOF film. We conclude that the synthetic versatility of these nanoporous materials holds great promise for creating recognition chemistries to enable selective detection of a wide range of analytes. A force field model is described that successfully predicts changes in MOF properties and the uptake of gases. This model is used to predict adsorption isotherms for a number of representative compounds, including explosives, nerve agents, volatile organic compounds, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. The results show that, as a result of relatively large heats of adsorption (> 20 kcal mol{sup -1}) in most cases, we expect an onset of adsorption by MOF as low as 10{sup -6} kPa, suggesting the potential to detect compounds such as RDX at levels as low as 10 ppb at atmospheric pressure.},
doi = {10.2172/993628},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2009},
month = {Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2009}
}

Technical Report:

Save / Share:
  • UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company, in collaboration with Professor Douglas LeVan at Vanderbilt University (VU), Professor Adam Matzger at the University of Michigan (UM), Professor Randall Snurr at Northwestern University (NU), and Professor Stefano Brandani at the University of Edinburgh (UE), supported by Honeywell's Specialty Materials business unit and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), have completed a three-year project to develop novel microporous metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and an associated vacuum-pressure swing adsorption (vPSA) process for the removal of CO{sub 2} from coal-fired power plant flue gas. The project leveraged the team's complementary capabilities: UOP's experience in materials developmentmore » and manufacturing, adsorption process design and process commercialization; LeVan and Brandani's expertise in high-quality adsorption measurements; Matzger's experience in syntheis of MOFs and the organic components associated with MOFs; Snurr's expertise in molecular and other modeling; Honeywell's expertise in the manufacture of organic chemicals; and, EPRI's knowledge of power-generation technology and markets. The project was successful in that a selective CO{sub 2} adsorbent with good thermal stability and reasonable contaminant tolerance was discovered, and a low cost process for flue gas CO{sub 2} capture process ready to be evaluated further at the pilot scale was proposed. The team made significant progress toward the current DOE post-combustion research targets, as defined in a recent FOA issued by NETL: 90% CO{sub 2} removal with no more than a 35% increase in COE. The team discovered that favorable CO{sub 2} adsorption at more realistic flue gas conditions is dominated by one particular MOF structure type, M/DOBDC, where M designates Zn, Co, Ni, or Mg and DOBDC refers to the form of the organic linker in the resultant MOF structure, dioxybenzenedicarboxylate. The structure of the M/DOBDC MOFs consists of infinite-rod secondary building units bound by DOBDC resulting in 1D hexagonal pores about 11 angstroms in diameter. Surface areas range from 800 to 1500 sq m/g for the different MOFs. Mg/DOBDC outperformed all MOF and zeolite materials evaluated to date, with about 25 wt% CO{sub 2} captured by this MOF at flue gas conditions ({approx}0.13 atm CO{sub 2} pressure, 311K). In simulated flue gas without oxygen, the zero-length (ZLC) system was very useful in quickly simulating the effect of long term exposure to impurities on the MOFs. Detailed adsorption studies on MOF pellets have shown that water does not inhibit CO{sub 2} adsorption for MOFs as much as it does for typical zeolites. Moreover, some MOFs retain a substantial CO{sub 2} capacity even with a modest water loading at room temperature. Molecular modeling was a key activity in three areas of our earlier DOE/NETL-sponsored MOF-based research on CC. First, the team was able to effectively simulate CO{sub 2} and other gas adsorption isotherms for more than 20 MOFs, and the knowledge obtained was used to help predict new MOF structures that should be effective for CO{sub 2} adsorption at low pressure. The team also showed that molecular modeling could be utilized to predict the hydrothermal stability of a given MOF. Finally, the team showed that low moisture level exposure actually enhanced the CO{sub 2} adsorption performance of a particular MOF, HKUST-1.« less
  • The primary goals of our research program is to develop and apply state-of-the-art first-principles methods to predict electronic and optical properties of three systems of significant scientific and technological interest: transition metal clusters, organic dyes, and metal-organic frameworks. These systems offer great opportunities to manipulate light for a wide ranging list of energy-related scientific problems and applications. During this grant period, we focused our investigations on the development, implementation, and benchmarking of many-body Green’s function methods (GW approximation and the Bethe-Salpeter equation) to examine excited-state properties of transition metal/transition-metal-oxide clusters and organic molecules that comprise the building blocks of dyesmore » and metal-organic frameworks.« less
  • Purpose: Water vapor trapped in encapsulation materials or enclosed volumes leads to corrosion issues for critical NW components. Sandia National Laboratories has created a new diagnostic to indicate the presence of water in weapon systems. Impact: Component exposure to water now can be determined instantly, without need for costly, time-consuming analytical methods.
  • This grant was focused on the study of metal-organic frameworks with these specific objectives. (1) To examine the use of MOFs with well-defined open metal sites for binding of gases and small organics. (2) To develop a strategy for producing MOFs that combine large pore size with high surface area for their use in gas adsorption and separation of polycyclic organic compounds. (3) To functionalize MOFs for the storage of inert gases such as methane. A brief outline of our progress towards these objectives is presented here as it forms part of the basis for the ideas to be developedmore » under the present proposal.« less
  • The goal of this program was to develop a low cost novel sorbent to remove carbon dioxide from flue gas and gasification streams in electric utilities. Porous materials named metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) were found to have good capacity and selectivity for the capture of carbon dioxide. Several materials from the initial set of reference MOFs showed extremely high CO{sub 2} adsorption capacities and very desirable linear isotherm shapes. Sample preparation occurred at a high level, with a new family of materials suitable for intellectual property protection prepared and characterized. Raman spectroscopy was shown to be useful for the facile characterizationmore » of MOF materials during adsorption and especially, desorption. Further, the development of a Raman spectroscopic-based method of determining binary adsorption isotherms was initiated. It was discovered that a stronger base functionality will need to be added to MOF linkers in order to enhance CO{sub 2} selectivity over other gases via a chemisorption mechanism. A concentrated effort was expended on being able to accurately predict CO{sub 2} selectivities and on the calculation of predicted MOF surface area values from first principles. A method of modeling hydrolysis on MOF materials that correlates with experimental data was developed and refined. Complimentary experimental data were recorded via utilization of a combinatorial chemistry heat treatment unit and high-throughput X-ray diffractometer. The three main Deliverables for the project, namely (a) a MOF for pre-combustion (e.g., IGCC) CO{sub 2} capture, (b) a MOF for post-combustion (flue gas) CO{sub 2} capture, and (c) an assessment of commercial potential for a MOF in the IGCC application, were completed. The key properties for MOFs to work in this application - high CO{sub 2} capacity, good adsorption/desorption rates, high adsorption selectivity for CO{sub 2} over other gases such as methane and nitrogen, high stability to contaminants, namely moisture, and easy regenerability, were all addressed during this program. As predicted at the start of the program, MOFs have high potential for CO{sub 2} capture in the IGCC and flue gas applications.« less