Despite the known importance of sulfur in catalysis, its complexity and fragility have posed challenges for chemists. Researchers at Northwestern University have now developed a method to integrate metal-sulfur active sites into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), significantly enhancing hydrogenation catalysis performance.
"Speeding up catalysis is essential for increasing efficiency, reducing energy consumption and minimizing environmental impact," said Omar K. Farha, a Northwestern MOF expert and co-corresponding author. "MOFs are an excellent platform for studying and optimizing catalysts."
The study, published in Nature Chemistry, highlights the use of MOFs' structural properties to accelerate catalysis. Haomiao Xie, the first author leading the experimentation at Northwestern, stated that this research introduces a new method to install sulfur-based active sites into MOFs without compromising their structure.
"We view this as a generalizable approach to replicate the characteristics of metal-sulfur sites in stable, solid materials," Farha added.
To verify their solution's effectiveness, researchers used advanced tools like single crystal X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction analysis. The study also involved computational insights showing sulfur's role in improving catalytic performance.
"The study demonstrates how sulfur ligands fundamentally change the reactivity of metal sites," said Laura Gagliardi from the University of Chicago.
Future research will focus on installing similar sites in other MOF families with different structures to expand hydrogenation reactivity studies.
This research was supported by various institutions including the U.S. Department of Energy and several facilities at Northwestern University.