INVESTIGADORES
DEL POPOLO Mario Gabriel
artículos
Título:
Liquids with permanent microporosity
Autor/es:
NICOLA GIRI; MARIO DEL PÓPOLO; GAVIN MELAUGH; REBECCA L. GREENAWAY; KLAUS RÄTZKE; TÖNJES KOSCHINE; MARGARIDA F. COSTA GOMES; LAURE PISON; ANDREW I. COOPER; STUART L. JAMES
Revista:
NATURE
Editorial:
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
Referencias:
Lugar: Londres; Año: 2015 vol. 527 p. 216 - 220
ISSN:
0028-0836
Resumen:
Porous solids such as zeolites and metal-organic frameworks are useful in molecular separation and in catalysis, but their solid nature can impose limitations. For example, liquid solvents, rather than porous solids, are the most mature technology for post-combustion carbon dioxide capture because liquid circulation systems are more easily retrofitted to existing plants. Solid porous adsorbents offer major benefits, such as lower energy penalties in adsorption-desorption cycles, but they are difficult to implement in conventional flow processes. Hence, new materials that combine the properties of fluidity and permanent porosity could offer unique technological advantages. However, permanent porosity is not associated with conventional liquids. Here we report the first free-flowing liquids whose bulk properties are determined by their permanent microporosity. To achieve this, we designed new cage molecules that provide a well-defined pore space. These cages are highly soluble in solvents whose molecules are too large to enter the pores. The concentration of unoccupied cages can thus be around 500 times greater than in other molecular solutions that contain cavities. As a result, there is a dramatic change in bulk properties, such as an 8-fold increase in the solubility of methane gas. Our results provide the basis to develop a new class of functional porous materials for chemical processes, and we present a one-step, multigram scale-up route for highly soluble 'scrambled' porous cages that is based on commercially available reagents. The unifying design principle for these materials is the avoidance of functional groups that can penetrate into the molecular cage cavities.