Extremely enhanced CO2 uptake by HKUST-1 metal–organic framework via a simple chemical treatment

• Chemical treatment could improve the CO2 adsorption capacity of HKUST-1.
• The chemically treated HKUST-1 exhibits very high CO2 uptake of 11.6 mmol/g at 273 K.
• Chemically treated HKUST-1 shows high potential for CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4 separation.

As prepared MOF Cu3(BTC)2 was immersed into different kinds of solvents with or without inorganic salt. The as-treated samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, FT-IR, TG, and N2 physisorption techniques. The results showed that CO2 uptake of the sample treated by ethanol and ammonium chloride at 65 °C showed very high CO2 adsorption capacity of 11.6 mmol/g at 273 K and 1 atm CO2 pressure, which is a drastic increase of 61% compared to the original MOF sample. The selectivity of CO2 over N2 and CH4 was also improved after chemical treatment. The sample as a CO2 adsorbent also exhibited good cyclic stabilities.

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