Dispersion-Enabled Shaping of Aluminum-Based MOF/Cellulose Composite Membranes for Autonomous Indoor Humidity...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Environmental Engineering
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Maintaining stable indoor relative humidity is crucial for health and preserving materials.
• Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) show promise for water sorption but have processing challenges like powder form and agglomeration.
• Existing methods struggle with scalability and processability for effective humidity regulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a processable and scalable material for effective indoor humidity regulation.
• To create flexible membranes from MOFs and cellulose with enhanced water sorption properties.
• To demonstrate a generalizable strategy for engineering MOF-based composite materials.

Main Methods:

• A facile MOF-dispersion-based strategy was employed to create stable MOF colloidal dispersions.
• MOF dispersions were integrated with plant-derived cellulose to form composite membranes.
• The composite membranes were characterized for surface area, water uptake, sorption kinetics, and performance in simulated indoor environments.

Main Results:

• The optimized composite membrane achieved a high specific surface area (747 m²/g) and water uptake (0.345 g/g).
• The membrane demonstrated rapid, reversible sorption kinetics and effectively reduced relative humidity fluctuation amplitude from 25.4% RH to 13.5% RH.
• The MOF dispersion processing suppressed agglomeration and ensured microstructural uniformity, even at high MOF loadings, showing excellent cycling stability.

Conclusions:

• MOF dispersion processing is a viable strategy for creating processable, high-performance humidity-regulating materials.
• The developed cellulose-MOF composite membranes offer an effective solution for passive indoor environmental control.
• This work provides a scalable framework for advanced humidity management materials.