Currently the production of precious gases is being carried out by cryogenic distillation and which is a sophisticated and energy intensive approach¹ and brings us the challenge to devise novel solutions including novel advanced materials to do the task more efficiently and economically. Considering the knowledge gap to be filled in the field of gas separation and purification, we may refer to one of the most studied class of special nanomaterials for the gas adsorption, separation, and storage, i.e. metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) which are used in the storage and separation of methane, hydrogen, noble gases, and carbon dioxide due to their open frameworks with structural channels and interacting active chemical moieties constructing the supramolecular frame². These fascinating materials are consisted of inorganic centers and organic linkers and provide us high surface area, high porosity, and tuneable properties. Despite the large number of accomplished and ongoing projects on these interesting multi-task materials, there is still urgent need for designing the goal-oriented MOFs for specific applications.

Schematic representation of specific MOF construction from several possible building units and its application in selective gas separation

Although MOFs are quite promising and applicable in many fields of gas-related application, they suffer from some problems regarding their instability towards the exposure with moisture. This gap has started to be filled in 2009 by two research groups proposing the first set of carbon@MOF composites which opened a new field of research on the advanced materials. Bandsoz et al. reported that combining the graphene and MOF, the coordination of oxygen atoms present on the graphene layers as well as hydrogen bonding between hydrogen atoms of graphene and oxygen atoms of MOF structure, increase the stability of MOF which was suffering from decomposition upon exposure to water^3,4.

Herein, the ultimate goal of COMPSTOR is providing novel approaches to extract precious gases using state-of-the-art advanced materials. It is intended to focus on potential MOFs that are very promising based on our preliminary results, to reveal their molecular-level characteristics. It is worth noting that understanding the hidden nature of under-study MOFs in the case of adsorption will open a new horizon in front of gas production research and technology by introducing innovative advanced materials. Moreover, the project not only benefits from combining the computer simulations and experiments but also will explore the synergy between carbon nanostructures and MOFs toward achieving novel methodologies in separation and purification science. 

¹ Das, N. K.; Chaudhuri, H.; Bhandari, R. K. Current Science  2008, 95, 1684.
²  Furukawa, H.; Cordova, K. E.; O’Keeffe, M.; Yaghi, O. M. Science  2013, 341, 1230444.
³  Petit, C.; Bandosz, T. J. Advanced Materials 2009, 21, 4753.
​⁴ Yang, S. J.; Choi, J. Y.; Chae, H. K.; Cho, J. H.; Nahm, K. S.; Park, C. R. Chemistry of Materials 2009, 21, 1893.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie and it is co-financed by the South Moravian Region under grant agreement No. 665860. This material reflects only the author’s view and the EU is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.