A Switch in the Hydrophobic/Hydrophilic Gas-Adsorption Character of Prussian Blue Analogues: An Affinity Control for Smart Gas Sorption

Chemistry. 2019 Jan 7;25(2):479-484. doi: 10.1002/chem.201804730. Epub 2018 Dec 11.

Abstract

Porous coordination polymers are molecule-based materials presenting a high degree of tunability, which offer many advantages for targeted applications over conventional inorganic materials. This work demonstrates that the hydrophilic/hydrophobic character of Prussian blue analogues having a lipophilic feature may be tuned to optimize the gas adsorption properties. The role of the coordinatively unsaturated metal sites is emphasized through a combination of theoretical and experimental study of water, ethanol, and n-hexane adsorption.

Keywords: Prussian Blue analogues; ab initio calculations; adsorption; chemically unsaturated sites; hydrophilicity.