title: In situ synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks/carbon nanotube composites with enhanced CO₂ adsorption.
abstract: A series of ZIF-8 and hydroxyl-functionalized carbon nanotube (CNT) composites were successfully synthesized by the solvothermal method. The obtained ZIF-8/CNT composites were characterized by XRD, SEM, TGA and N2 adsorption at 77 K. The contents of ZIF-8 and CNTs in the composites were calculated from thermal analysis data. CO2 and N2 adsorption at 273 K on the composites was also investigated and compared. The ZIF-8 particles in the composites exhibit similar crystal structures and morphology to those of pure ZIF-8, but display enhanced thermal stability. The surface areas and pore volumes of the ZIF-8/CNT composites are higher than the values calculated for hypothetical physical mixtures, and the synergetic effect between ZIF-8 and CNTs can be proposed. This phenomenon demonstrates that the incorporation of CNTs into ZIF-8 can facilitate the nucleation and crystallization of ZIF-8. As a result, the composites with an optimal CNT content (3.63 wt%) show improved CO2 adsorption capacity and higher relative selectivity for CO2/N2 compared with pure ZIF-8.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, the University of Queensland, Brisbane 4072, Australia. z.zhu@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rudolph
authors.forename: Zhonghua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu