The filters used in gas masks, which give protection against toxic industrial chemicals, are often large and cumbersome, being made from activated carbon that is impregnated with metal salts. In a search for alternatives, SonBinh Nguyen and colleagues at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, have joined forces with scientists at the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, Maryland, to investigate a series of porous organic polymers (POPs) bearing metal-catecholate groups. By changing the molecular components used in their synthesis, the materials have been tailored to hydrogen bond to, and consequently eliminate, specific toxic industrial chemicals, like ammonia.
‘Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have the same customisable characteristics as POPs, and have been investigated for their ability to remove toxic chemicals,’ says Nguyen. ‘Yet many of the MOFs known today are not very stable, owing to the prevalence of metal-oxygen bonds, and will degrade in the presence of atmospheric moisture. POPs, on the other hand, contain carbon-carbon bonds, which are less susceptible to moisture attack,’ he explains.
Read the full article in Chemistry World
Read the original journal article in ChemComm:
Removal of airborne toxic chemicals by porous organic polymers containing metal–catecholate
Mitchell H. Weston, Gregory W. Peterson, Matthew A. Browe, Paulette Jones, Omar K. Farha, Joseph T. Hupp and SonBinh T. Nguyen
Chem. Commun., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC40475G
