Applications of metal–organic frameworks for green energy and environment: New advances in adsorptive gas separation, storage and removal

Abstract The separation of gas molecules with similar physicochemical properties is of high importance but practically entails a substantial energy penalty in chemical industry. Meanwhile, clean energy gases such as H2 and CH4 are considered as promising candidates for the replacement of traditional fossil fuels. However, the technologies for the storage of these gases are still immature. In addition, the release of anthropogenic toxic gases into the atmosphere is a worldwide threat of growing concern. Both in academia and industry, considerable research efforts have been devoted to developing advanced porous materials for the effective and energy-efficient separation, storage, or capture of the related gases. In contrast to conventional inorganic porous materials such as zeolites and activated carbons, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are considered as a type of promising materials for gas separation and storage. In this contribution, we review the recent research advance of MOFs in some relevant applications, including CO2 capture, O2 purification, separation of light hydrocarbons, separation of noble gases, storage of gases (CH4, H2, and C2H2) for energy, and removal of some gaseous air pollutants (NH3, NO2, and SO2). Finally, an outlook regarding the challenges of the future research of MOFs in these directions is given.