Tetraphenylethylene-based microporous organic polymers: insight into structure geometry, porosity, and CO2/CH4 selectivity

Abstract

Tetraphenylethylene-based microporous organic polymers with tunable porosities can be synthesized from several acetyl-modified tetraphenylethylenes with mannitol or pentaerythritol. The employment of building blocks with different chemical structures accompanied by a linkage geometry engineering approach have led to the formation of eight polymers (PTPOP-1–4 and MTPOP-1–4) presenting different Brunauer–Emmett–Teller specific surface areas and total pore volumes. In addition, different carbon dioxide adsorption capabilities of the resulting polymers are studied, and their CO₂/CH₄ selectivities are assessed. These results help shed light on designing porous organic polymers with controllable porosities and gas adsorption properties.