Issue 23, 2016

A solid solution zeolitic imidazolate framework as a room temperature efficient catalyst for the chemical fixation of CO2

Abstract

An energy efficient and economically viable bimetallic heterogeneous catalyst system composed of Co and Zn as active centers and 2-methylimidazole as a linker has been synthesized in water at room temperature. The synthesized material (CZ-ZIF) possesses a sodalite topology, similar to the parent materials, ZIF-8 and ZIF-67, with a high surface area of >1400 m2 g−1. The Zn and Co metal ions were shown to occupy equivalent sites throughout the framework in similar proportions, as confirmed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques. CZ-ZIF rendered a high catalytic conversion of epoxides to five-membered cyclic carbonates using CO2 as the C1 source under solvent- and co-catalyst-free conditions with excellent selectivity and manifested better catalytic abilities than ZIF-67 and enhanced framework stability compared to ZIF-8. Furthermore, CZ-ZIF exhibited catalytic activity even at room temperature in the presence of a co-catalyst, and was reusable over a minimum of five cycles with no noticeable decrease in activity. A plausible mechanism for CZ-ZIF catalyzed solvent- and co-catalyst-free epoxide–CO2 cycloaddition has been proposed.

Graphical abstract: A solid solution zeolitic imidazolate framework as a room temperature efficient catalyst for the chemical fixation of CO2

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
14 Jun 2016
Accepted
01 Sep 2016
First published
02 Sep 2016

Green Chem., 2016,18, 6349-6356

A solid solution zeolitic imidazolate framework as a room temperature efficient catalyst for the chemical fixation of CO2

R. R. Kuruppathparambil, R. Babu, H. M. Jeong, G. Hwang, G. S. Jeong, M. Kim, D. Kim and D. Park, Green Chem., 2016, 18, 6349 DOI: 10.1039/C6GC01614F

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