Aqueous One-Step Modulation for Synthesizing Monodispersed ZIF-8 Nanocrystals for Mixed-Matrix Membrane

Xu Jiang; Shanshan He; Gang Han; Jun Long; Songwei Li; Cher Hon Lau; Sui Zhang; Lu Shao

doi:10.1021/acsami.0c22910

Aqueous One-Step Modulation for Synthesizing Monodispersed ZIF-8 Nanocrystals for Mixed-Matrix Membrane

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Mar 10;13(9):11296-11305. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c22910. Epub 2021 Feb 24.

Authors

Xu Jiang¹, Shanshan He¹, Gang Han², Jun Long¹, Songwei Li³, Cher Hon Lau⁴, Sui Zhang⁵, Lu Shao¹

Affiliations

¹ MIIT Key Laboratory of Critical Materials Technology for New Energy Conversion and Storage, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, P. R. China.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States.
³ Key Laboratory of Materials Processing and Mold (Zhengzhou University), Ministry of Education, National Engineering Research Center for Advanced Polymer Processing Technology Department of Chemical Engineering, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450002, P. R. China.
⁴ School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, Mayfield Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JL, U.K.
⁵ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore 117585.

PMID: 33625225
DOI: 10.1021/acsami.0c22910

Abstract

Enhancing the monodispersity and surface properties of nanoporous zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are crucial for maximizing their performance in advanced nanocomposites for separations. Herein, we developed an in situ method to synthesize monodispersed ZIF-8 nanocrystals with unique dopamine (DA) surface decoration layer (ZIF-8-DA) in an aqueous solution at room temperature. Interestingly, the in situ formation of the monodispersed ZIF-8-DA nanocrystals experiences a triple-stage crystallization process, resulting in a rhombic dodecahedron architecture, which is greatly different from the synthesis of conventional ZIF-8. The crystallinity and abundant microporosity of ZIF-8-DA nanocrystals is well maintained even with the DA surface decoration. Owing to the advanced surface compatibility and pore properties of ZIF-8-DA, ZIF-8-DA/Matrimid mixed-matrix membranes exhibit both higher gas permeability and selectivity than the pristine Matrimid polyimide membrane, which breaks out the traditional "trade-off" phenomena between permeability and selectivity.

Keywords: ZIF-8; dopamine modulation; mixed-matrix membrane; monodispersity; nucleation.