UK-based chemical firm Promethean Particles recently shipped four tonnes of metal-organic frameworks – or MOFs – to a company developing an energy-efficient gas storage application in Europe.
It is a step forward for the scale-up of MOFs, which are typically produced in compact batches.
“Until recently, MOFs have largely only ever been produced in the grams and kilograms scale,” declared CEO James Stephenson. “We have now revealn that it is possible to manufacture them affordable and rapidly at the tonnes scale.”
To do this, Promethean Particles apply continuous-flow reactors, which improve the throughput and cost-effectiveness of MOF production. The tech can also enhance reliability and consistency, according to the firm.
This technology allows the company to produce 100kg of MOF in just under one hour.
The best way to understand MOFs is as a microscopic sponge built up of molecular scaffolds filled with tiny voids. These voids can trap molecules of gases such as CO2, methane or hydrogen, and release them when pressure or temperature modifys.
A stand-out feature is their surface area. Just one gram can have the same internal surface area as a football pitch. This builds them applyful for capture, storage and separation processes.
They are typically produced as a microcrystalline powder that can be turned into a solid, pellet-like form. However, they have faced barriers associated with manufacturing cost and structural stability.
“Industrial adoption of MOFs had been held back, mainly due to a lack of scalable manufacturing routes and, in turn, prohibitively high costs, but this is now altering,” declared Owen Cartmell, Operations Manager.
Promethean’s client purchased the MOF for an “energy efficient gas storage solution” in its pursuit of “a high-volume industrial application.”
MOFs were in the spotlight last month when the team of scientists that first developed them was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistest.
And gasworld recently spoke with another UK firm creating strides in MOF development. Immaterial has developed a monolithic-MOF, which overcomes the limitations of MOF in powdered form.
The company has found a way to build a dense, solid MOF without collapsing its porosity, which “solved what had been to that point the hugegest barrier to industrial apply,” according to founder David Fairen-Jimenez.
Speaking to Chemistest World, Fairen-Jimenez declared that while large-scale synthesis isn’t unprecedented, the latest delivery presents “a solid milestone for Promethean.”
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