Rapid Production of Metal-Organic Frameworks Based Separators in Industrial-Level Efficiency

Adv Sci (Weinh). 2020 Nov 6;7(24):2002190. doi: 10.1002/advs.202002190. eCollection 2020 Dec.

Abstract

Metal-organic framework (MOF) based mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have received significant attention in applications such as gas separation, sensing, and energy storage. However, the mass production of MOF-based MMMs with retained porosity remains a longstanding challenge. Herein, an in situ heat-assisted solvent-evaporation method is described to facilely produce MOF-based MMMs. This method can be extended into various MOFs and polymers with minimum reaction time of 5 min. Thus-obtained MMMs with high uniformity, excellent robustness, well-tuned loading, and thickness can be massively produced in industrial-level efficiency (≈4 m in a batch experiment). Furthermore, they can be readily applied as powerful separators for Li-S cell with high specific capacity (1163.7 mAh g-1) and a capacity retention of 500.7 mAh g-1 after 700 cycles at 0.5 C (0.08% fading per cycle). This work may overcome the longstanding challenge of processing MOFs into MMMs and largely facilitate the industrialization process of MOFs.

Keywords: MOF‐based mixed matrix membranes; industrial‐level efficiency; lithium–sulfur battery separators.