Issue 2, 2024

Enhanced moisture sorption through regulated MIL-101(Cr) synthesis and its integration onto heat exchangers

Abstract

From residences to industries, cooling processes are energy-intensive yet indispensable. Decoupling the sensible and latent heat loads and delegating the latter to desiccant-coated heat exchangers (DCHEs) permits more energy-efficient cooling. However, the commonplace desiccant – silica gel – has limited water sorption capacity. As a crystalline and water-stable metal–organic framework, MIL-101(Cr) (where MIL stands for Materials Institute Lavoisier) is a promising next-generation desiccant. The current challenges lie in scaling up MIL-101(Cr) production and incorporating it into DCHEs. This work demonstrates how tetraethylammonium hydroxide (TEAOH) is not only less toxic for scaled-up additive-based MIL-101(Cr) synthesis but also produces smaller MIL-101(Cr) particles (40–159 nm) with water uptake capacity up to 1.41 g g−1. Subsequently, TEAOH-MIL-101(Cr) was integrated into heat exchangers using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to concurrently bind the cuboctahedral particles and enhance heat and mass transfer. In all three adsorption–desorption cycles, the MIL-101(Cr)/PVA-coated heat exchanger had a gravimetric water uptake twice that of the control silica gel-coated heat exchanger. Moreover, the MIL-101(Cr)/PVA-coated heat exchanger can be regenerated at a desorption temperature of less than 50 °C while adsorbing up to 0.91 g g−1 of moisture. Therefore, the MIL-101(Cr)/PVA-coated heat exchanger is feasible for applications in dehumidification and other systems.

Graphical abstract: Enhanced moisture sorption through regulated MIL-101(Cr) synthesis and its integration onto heat exchangers

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
28 авг 2023
Accepted
05 дек 2023
First published
06 дек 2023

J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024,12, 824-839

Enhanced moisture sorption through regulated MIL-101(Cr) synthesis and its integration onto heat exchangers

M. G. V. Wee, A. Chinnappan, R. Shang, P. S. Lee and S. Ramakrishna, J. Mater. Chem. A, 2024, 12, 824 DOI: 10.1039/D3TA05141B

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