Interfacial-assembled zeolitic-imidazole framework fabrics for efficient CO₂ capture

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained widespread attentions in carbon dioxide (CO₂) adsorption and separation based on their high specific surface area, large porosity, and easy modification. However, their powdery nature results in poor mechanical stability and insufficient mass transfer, hindering their use in this application. Herein, this study proposes an effective interfacial-assembly strategy for preparing zeolitic-imidazole framework (ZIF) nanofiber composites with enhanced CO₂ adsorption capacity by nucleating ZIF units directly on electrospun nanofibers, which we term "ZIFabrics". This advanced synthesis process promotes the formation of a hierarchical pore structure for rapid mass transfer and generates synergistic binding sites for CO₂ adsorption. As a proof of this unique design, the resulting ZIFabrics exhibited some desirable application properties, such as a high specific surface area of 239.57 m²/g, a high CO₂ adsorption capacity of 4.37 mmol/g at 298 K, and a high CO₂/N₂ selectivity of 40. In addition, the ZIFabrics showed superior regenerability after multiple CO₂ adsorption cycles. Furthermore, density functional theory calculations verified the possible CO₂ adsorption mechanisms. Overall, this study demonstrated an effective strategy for synergistically developing multiple binding sites in the ZIFabrics to realize a high adsorption capacity for efficient CO₂ capture.