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High silica zeolite ZK-5 (framework Si/Al=4.8) has been prepared by interzeolite conversion from ultrastable zeolite Y via a co-templating route using alkali metal cations and nitrate anions but without organic structure directing agents. The mechanism, which involves zeolite framework - alkali metal cation - nitrate anion ordering, has been established by a combination of chemical and thermal analyses, Raman spectroscopy, computational modelling, and X-ray powder diffraction. Ammonium exchange gives ZK-5 with occluded ammonium nitrate and subsequent heating gives microporous zeolite ZK-5., (© 2022 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The flexibility of the zeolite Rho framework offers great potential for tunable molecular sieving. The fully copper-exchanged form of Rho and mixed Cu,H- and Cu,Na-forms have been prepared. EPR spectroscopy reveals that Cu 2+ ions are present in the dehydrated forms and Rietveld refinement shows these prefer S6R sites, away from the d8r windows that control diffusion. Fully exchanged Cu-Rho remains in an open form upon dehydration, the d8r windows remain nearly circular and the occupancy of window sites is low, so that it adsorbs CO 2 rapidly at room temperature. Breakthrough tests with 10 % CO 2 /40 % CH 4 mixtures show that Cu 4.9 -Rho is able to produce pure methane, albeit with a relatively low capacity at this p CO2 due to the weak interaction of CO 2 with Cu cations. This is in strong contrast to Na-Rho, where cations in narrow elliptical window sites enable CO 2 to be adsorbed with high selectivity and uptake but too slowly to enable the production of pure methane in similar breakthrough experiments. A series of Cu,Na-Rho materials was prepared to improve uptake and selectivity compared to Cu-Rho, and kinetics compared to Na-Rho. Remarkably, Cu,Na-Rho with >2 Cu cations per unit cell exhibited exsolution, due to the preference of Na cations for narrow S8R sites in distorted Rho and of Cu cations for S6R sites in the centric, open form of Rho. The exsolved Cu,Na-Rho showed improved performance in CO 2 /CH 4 breakthrough tests, producing pure CH 4 with improved uptake and CO 2 /CH 4 selectivity compared to that of Cu 4.9 -Rho., (© 2021 The Authors. Chemistry - A European Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

An AlPO 4 zeotype has been prepared using the aromatic diamine 1,10-phenanthroline and some of its methylated analogues as templates. In each case the two template N atoms bind to a specific framework Al site to expand its coordination to the unusual octahedral AlO 4 N 2 environment. Furthermore, using this framework-bound template, Fe atoms can be included selectively at this site in the framework by direct synthesis, as confirmed by annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy and Rietveld refinement. Calcination removes the organic molecules to give large pore framework solids, with BET surface areas up to 540 m 2  g -1 and two perpendicular sets of channels that intersect to give pore space connected by 12-ring openings along all crystallographic directions., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.)

Membrane separation for gas purification is an energy-efficient and environment-friendly technology. However, the development of high performance membranes is still a great challenge. In principle, mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have the potential to overcome current materials limitations, but in practice there is no straightforward method to match the properties of fillers and polymers (the main components of MMMs) in such a way that the final membrane performance reflects the high performance of the microporous filler and the processability of the continuous polymer phase. This issue is especially important when high flux polymers are utilized. In this work, we demonstrate that the use of small amounts of a glassy polymer in combination with high performance PIM-1 allow for the preparation of metal-organic framework (MOF)-based MMMs with superior separation properties and low aging rates under humid conditions, meeting the commercial target for post-combustion CO 2 capture., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

To gain insight into the influence of metal-organic framework (MOF) fillers and polymers on membrane performance, eight different composites were studied by combining four MOFs and two polymers. MOF materials (NH 2 -MIL-53(Al), MIL-69(Al), MIL-96(Al) and ZIF-94) with various chemical functionalities, topologies, and dimensionalities of porosity were employed as fillers, and two typical polymers with different permeability-selectivity properties (6FDA-DAM and Pebax) were selected as matrices. The best-performing MOF-polymer composites were prepared by loading 25 wt % of MIL-96(Al) as filler, which improved the permeability and selectivity of 6FDA-DAM to 32 and 10 %, while for Pebax they were enhanced to 25 and 18 %, respectively. The observed differences in membrane performance in the separation of CO 2 from N 2 are explained on the basis of gas solubility, diffusivity properties, and compatibility between the filler and polymer phases., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)