Scale-up and Processing of a Metal-Organic Framework for Applications in Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide

To mitigate the greenhouse-gas effect driving global warming, this project aims to scale up, and industrially optimize, the metal-organic framework NbOFFIVE-Ni-1 for use in a novel carbon-emission recapture and utilization system. To accomplish this, new techniques for synthesis and purification of the nanoporous metal-organic framework NbOFFIVE-Ni-1 were employed to elevate its CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>-uptake performance, as reported in the existing literature. Then, the compaction pressure for pelletizing the powdery product into a large-scale, reactorcompatible form was optimized. The integrity of the framework structure was monitored via powder X-ray diffraction, and carbon dioxide adsorption measurements examined the effect on uptake performance after pelletizing. After optimized conditions were found, two kilograms of NbOFFIVE-Ni-1 were processed and packed in two column reactors, and an effective batch-process system for filtering carbon dioxide from polluted atmospheric air was devised.