Capture of nitrogen dioxide and conversion to nitric acid in a porous metal–organic framework

Li, Jiangnan, Han, Xue, Zhang, Xinran, Sheveleva, Alena M., Cheng, Yongqiang, Tuna, Floriana, McInnes, Eric J.L., McCormick McPherson, Laura J., Teat, Simon J., Daemen, Luke L., Ramirez-Cuesta, Anibal J., Schröder, Martin and Yang, Sihai (2019) Capture of nitrogen dioxide and conversion to nitric acid in a porous metal–organic framework. Nature Chemistry, 11 (12), 1085-1090. (doi:10.1038/s41557-019-0356-0).

Abstract

Air pollution by nitrogen oxides, NO_x, is a major problem, and new capture and abatement technologies are urgently required. Here, we report a metal–organic framework (Manchester Framework Material 520 (MFM-520)) that can efficiently confine dimers of NO₂, which results in a high adsorption capacity of 4.2 mmol g^–1 (298 K, 0.01 bar) with full reversibility and no loss of capacity over 125 cycles. Treatment of NO₂@MFM-520 with water in air leads to a quantitative conversion of the captured NO₂ into HNO₃, an important feedstock for fertilizer production, and fully regenerates MFM-520. The confinement of N₂O₄ inside nanopores was established at a molecular level, and the dynamic breakthrough experiments using both dry and humid NO₂ gas streams verify the excellent stability and selectivity of MFM-520 and confirm its potential for precious-metal-free deNO_x technologies.

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Contributors

Author: Laura J. McCormick McPherson

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