Among the hundreds of different MOF structures, aluminum terephthalate, better known as MIL-53(Al) MOF (13-3050), is one of the most studied organic−inorganic hybrid materials. This material was developed by MOF guru Prof. Gérard Férey from the Lavoisier Institute of Versailles University. MIL-53(Al) was one of the first MOFs to be commercialized. Its 3D framework consists of infinite trans chains of corner-sharing AlO4(OH)2 octahedra. The chains are interconnected by the 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate groups, creating 1D rhombic-shaped tunnels [1]. MIL-53 (Al) is very stable and highly resistant to hydrolysis in neutral and acidic solutions. Its good structural stability to aqueous solutions is quite rare among the MOFs [2].
The major characteristic that differentiates MIL-53 (Al) from the other MOFs is the ability of structure transformation during the adsorption-desorption process. Indeed, its enormous flexibility and the occurrence of a “breathing” effect during adsorption between two distinct conformations, the large-pore phase (lp) and the narrow-pore phase (np) (Figure 1), leads to a remarkable difference in cell volume of up to 40%. (Fig. 1) [8-11].
Reprinted with permission from:
Anne Boutin, François-Xavier Coudert, Marie-Anne Springuel-Huet, et al. J. Phys. Chem. C 2012, 116, 19839
Fig. 1. Representation of the metastable (lp) and (np) structures of the MIL-53(Al) material, as a 2 × 2 × 2 supercell viewed along the axis of the unidimensional channels.
It’s not surprising that this material with these unique properties is widely used in gas processing applications, especially for CH4 and CO2 which is covered in hundreds of papers in the literature [e.g. 8-13]. Additionally, MIL-53 (Al) is used for the adsorption/separation of various organic solutions [e.g. 6, 14-16] and catalytic organic transformation [e.g. 17-21]. It is noteworthy that MIL-53 (Al) is biologically and environmentally friendly making it applicable for biomedical applications [22].
References:
Products mentioned in this blog and related products:
13-3050 Aluminum hydroxide terephthalate MOF, MIL-53(Al) (654061-20-8)
13-0300 Aluminum hydroxide isophthalate MOF (CAU-10, Isophthalate:Al=0.9-1.0) (1416330-84-1)
13-3060 Tris[μ-[2-amino-1,4-benzenedicarboxylato(2-)-κO1:κO'1]]diaquachloro-μ3-oxotri-aluminum MOF, MIL-101(Al)-NH2 (1404201-64-4)
Related Resources & Product Lines:
Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs)
Metal Organic Frameworks Booklet
Catalysis