N-rich zeolite-like metal–organic framework with sodalite topology: high CO2 uptake, selective gas adsorption and efficient drug delivery

Abstract

A novel zeolite-like metal–organic framework (ZMOF) with sodalite topology, [Zn(HL)]·DMA (IFMC-1, L = 4,5-di(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-2H-1,2,3-triazole and IFMC = Institute of Functional Material Chemistry), was solvothermally synthesized based on an N-rich aromatic ligand without a NH₂ group. It exhibits high CO₂ uptake and selective CO₂/N₂ adsorption capacity. For the first time, we investigated the influence of a large number of uncoordinated nitrogen atoms from aromatic rings for CO₂ adsorption in ZMOFs. This result reveals that the high percentage of open N-donor sites leads to the high uptake capacity for CO₂, even in the absence of any NH₂ groups and open metal sites. In addition, it also exhibits efficient drug delivery capacity.