Demonstrate the removal efficiency and capacity of MOF materials for krypton recovery

Metal organic framework materials (MOFs) were developed and tested in support of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy, Fuel Cycle Technology Separations and Waste Forms Campaign. Specifically, materials are being developed for the removal of xenon (Xe) and krypton (Kr) from gaseous products of nuclear fuel reprocessing unit operations. Two metal organic framework structures were investigated in greater detail to demonstrate the removal efficiency and capacity of MOF materials for krypton recovery. Our two bed breakthrough measurements on NiDOBDC and FMOFCu indicate these materials can capture and separate parts per million levels of Xe and Kr from air. The removal efficiency and adsorption capacity for Kr on these two MOFs were further increased upon removal of Xe upfront

Initial proof-of-principle for near room temperature Xe and Kr separation from air with MOFs

Materials were developed and tested in support of the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Fuel Cycle Technology Separations and Waste Forms Campaign. Specifically, materials are being developed for the removal of Xenon and krypton from gaseous products of nuclear fuel reprocessing unit operations. During FY 2012, Three Metal organic framework (MOF) structures were investigated in greater detail for the removal and storage of Xe and Kr from air at room temperature. Our breakthrough measurements on Nickel based MOF could capture and separate parts per million levels of Xe from Air (40 ppm Kr, 78% N2, 21% O2, 0.9% Ar, 0.03% CO2). Similarly, the selectivity can be changed from Xe > Kr to Xe < Kr simply by changing the temperature in another MOF. Also for the first time we estimated the cost of the metal organic frameworks in bulk

Unusually long cooperative chain of seven hydrogen bonds. An alternative packing type for symmetrical phenols

Conformational flexibility in a symmetrical tris-phenol leads to close packed structures that are also characterised by an extended though finite cooperative chain of hydrogen bonds

Advances in Lymphatic Imaging and Drug Delivery

Cancer remains the second leading cause of death after heart disease in the US. While metastasized cancers such as breast, prostate, and colon are incurable, before their distant spread, these diseases will have invaded the lymphatic system as a first step in their progression. Hence, proper evaluation of the disease state of the lymphatics which drain a tumor site is crucial to staging and the formation of a treatment plan. Current lymphatic imaging modalities with visible dyes and radionucleotide tracers offer limited sensitivity and poor resolution; however, newer tools using nanocarriers, quantum dots, and magnetic resonance imaging promise to vastly improve the staging of lymphatic spread without needless biopsies. Concurrent with the improvement of lymphatic imaging agents, has been the development of drug carriers that can localize chemotherapy to the lymphatic system, thus improving the treatment of localized disease while minimizing the exposure of healthy organs to cytotoxic drugs. This review will focus on the use of various nanoparticulate and polymeric systems that have been developed for imaging and drug delivery to the lymph system, how these new devices improve upon current technologies, and where further improvement is needed

Fluorocarbon adsorption in hierarchical porous frameworks

Metal-organic frameworks comprise an important class of solid-state materials and have potential for many emerging applications such as energy storage, separation, catalysis and bio-medical. Here we report the adsorption behaviour of a series of fluorocarbon derivatives on a set of microporous and hierarchical mesoporous frameworks. The microporous frameworks show a saturation uptake capacity for dichlorodifluoromethane of &#62;4 mmol g-1 at a very low relative saturation pressure (P/Po) of 0.02. In contrast, the mesoporous framework shows an exceptionally high uptake capacity reaching &#62;14 mmol g-1 at P/Poof 0.4. Adsorption affinity in terms of mass loading and isosteric heats of adsorption is found to generally correlate with the polarizability and boiling point of the refrigerant, with dichlorodifluoromethane &#62; chlorodifluoromethane &#62; chlorotrifluoromethane &#62; tetrafluoromethane &#62; methane. These results suggest the possibility of exploiting these sorbents for separation of azeotropic mixtures of fluorocarbons and use in eco-friendly fluorocarbon-based adsorption cooling

Summary Report for the Development of Materials for Volatile Radionuclides

The materials development summarized here is in support of the Waste Forms campaign, Volatile Radionuclide task. Specifically, materials are being developed for the removal and immobilization of iodine and krypton, specifically 129I and 85Kr. During FY 2010, aerogel materials were investigated for removal and immobilization of 129I. Two aerogel formulations were investigated, one based on silica aerogels and the second on chalcogenides. For 85Kr, metal organic framework (MOF) structures were investigated

Gas-liquid segmented flow microwave-assisted synthesis of MOF-74(Ni) under moderate pressures

The metal organic framework, MOF-74(Ni), was synthesized in a continuous flow microwave-assisted reactor obtaining a high space-time yield (~90 g h⁻¹ L⁻¹) and 96.5% conversion of reagents. Separation of the nucleation and growth steps was performed by using uniform and rapid microwave heating to induce nucleation, which allowed a substantial increase in conversion for shorter reaction times under mild pressure. High yields were achieved in minutes, as opposed to days for typical batch syntheses, with excellent control over the material's properties due to more uniform nucleation, and the separation of the nucleation and growth steps. Optimization of the microwave reactor parameters led to improvements in MOF-74(Ni) crystallinity, reagent conversion, and production rates. Differences in MOF-74(Ni) crystallinity were observed as smaller grains were formed when higher microwave zone temperatures were used. Crystallinity differences led to different final adsorption properties and surface areas. Herein we show that a continuous high space-time yield synthesis of MOF-74(Ni) allows control over nucleation using microwave heating

High-Rate Synthesis of Cu-BTC Metal-Organic Frameworks

The reaction conditions for the synthesis of Cu-BTC (BTC = benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid) were elucidated using a continuous-flow microreactor-assisted solvothermal system to achieve crystal size and phase control. A high-rate synthesis of Cu-BTC metal-organic frameworks with BET surface area of more than 1600 m²/g (Langmuir surface area of more than 2000 m²/g) and with a 97% production yield could be achieved with a total reaction time of 5 minutes