Abstract
Diamine-appended Mg(2)(dobpdc) (dobpdc(4-) = 4,4'-dioxidobiphenyl-3,3'-dicarboxylate) metal-organic frameworks have emerged as promising candidates for carbon capture owing to their exceptional CO(2) selectivities, high separation capacities, and step-shaped adsorption profiles, which arise from a unique cooperative adsorption mechanism resulting in the formation of ammonium carbamate chains. Materials appended with primary,secondary-diamines featuring bulky substituents, in particular, exhibit excellent stabilities and CO(2) adsorption properties. However, these frameworks display double-step adsorption behavior arising from steric repulsion between ammonium carbamates, which ultimately results in increased regeneration energies. Herein, we report frameworks of the type diamine-Mg(2)(olz) (olz(4-) = (E)-5,5'-(diazene-1,2-diyl)bis(2-oxidobenzoate)) that feature diverse diamines with bulky substituents and display desirable single-step CO(2) adsorption across a wide range of pressures and temperatures. Analysis of CO(2) adsorption data reveals that the basicity of the pore-dwelling amine─in addition to its steric bulk─is an important factor influencing adsorption step pressure; furthermore, the amine steric bulk is found to be inversely correlated with the degree of cooperativity in CO(2) uptake. One material, ee-2-Mg(2)(olz) (ee-2 = N,N-diethylethylenediamine), adsorbs >90% of the CO(2) from a simulated coal flue stream and exhibits exceptional thermal and oxidative stability over the course of extensive adsorption/desorption cycling, placing it among top-performing adsorbents to date for CO(2) capture from a coal flue gas. Spectroscopic characterization and van der Waals-corrected density functional theory calculations indicate that diamine-Mg(2)(olz) materials capture CO(2) via the formation of ammonium carbamate chains. These results point more broadly to the opportunity for fundamentally advancing materials in this class through judicious design.