title: Enhanced separation of potassium ions by spontaneous K+-induced self-assembly of a novel metal-organic framework and excess specific cation-π interactions.
abstract: A novel metal-organic framework (MOF) was fabricated by spontaneous K(+)-induced supramolecular self-assembly with the embedded tripodal ligand units. When the 3D ligand was loaded onto Fe3O4@mSiO2 core-shell nanoparticles, it could effectively separate K(+) ions from a mixture of Na(+), K(+), Mg(2+), and Ca(2+) ions through nanoparticle-assisted MOF crystallization into a Fe3O4@mSiO2@MOF hybrid material. Excess potassium ions could be extracted because of the specific cation-π interaction between K(+) and the aromatic cavity of the MOF, leading to enhanced separation efficiency and suggesting a new application for MOFs.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000 (China).
authors.forename: Wenyu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Alexander M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Kirillov
authors.forename: Xuhuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.forename: Panpan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Weisheng
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
keywords: hybrid materials; ion extraction; metal-organic framework; potassium; self-assembly