Pore Space Partition by Symmetry-Matching Regulated Ligand Insertion and Dramatic Tuning on Carbon Dioxide Uptake

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with the highest CO2 uptake capacity are usually those equipped with open metal sites. Here we seek alternative strategies and mechanisms for developing high-performance CO2 adsorbents. We demonstrate that through a ligand insertion pore space partition strategy, we can create crystalline porous materials (CPMs) with superior CO2 uptake capacity. Specifically, a new material, CPM-33b-Ni without any open metal sites, exhibits the CO2 uptake capacity comparable to MOF-74 with the same metal (Ni) at 298 K and 1 bar.