Technology for clean and scalable synthesis of metal-organic frameworks

拟议的申请旨在将最近开发的一项新的清洁技术(US 62/119,436)扩大到10公斤/天的批量工艺，用于制造多种类型的微孔金属-有机骨架(MOF)。这一经过验证的清洁制造工艺将为建立和成立一家名为Q-MOF的初创公司奠定基础，该公司将率先在商业上提供复杂而廉价的MOF，用于学术研究，以及气体净化、氢燃料电池、甲烷和乙炔储存、二氧化碳封存和催化等领域的商业机会。尽管少数制造商最近开始在商业上提供数量非常有限的MOF，但这些材料只能以过高的价格获得(每公斤12,000美元)。此外，这些材料的现有制造工艺具有高环境影响和安全风险的特点，涉及腐蚀性起始材料和苛刻的反应条件。我们最近的专利技术允许从知名和安全的试剂中廉价、简单和环境友好地合成各种MOF。拟议的研究将使我们能够扩大我们清洁和廉价的MOF制造技术，并扩大可获得的MOF产品组合，使我们能够建立一家MOF制造公司，通过以低于目前50%或更低的价格提供大量(10-100公斤)MOF产品，以满足新兴的研究和工业应用市场的需求。我们最初预期的市场是吸附剂，重点是燃料电池技术，但我们的目标也是为研究用户提供具有各种应用的产品。

The proposed application aims to scale up a recently-developed new and clean technology (US 62/119,436) for gram-scale manufacturing of microporous metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) into a >10 kilogram/day batch process for manufacturing multiple types of MOFs. This proven clean manufacturing process will provide a foundation to establish and incorporate a start-up company, called Q-MOF, which will be the first to commercially provide sophisticated and inexpensive MOFs for applications in academic research, as well as commercial opportunities in gas purification, hydrogen fuel cells, storage of methane and acetylene, carbon dioxide sequestration, and catalysis. Although a small number of manufacturers have recently begun commercially offering a very limited number of MOFs, these materials are available only at exorbitant cost (>$12,000 per kg). As well, the existing processes through which these materials are made are characterized by high environmental impact and safety risks, and involve corrosive starting materials and harsh reaction conditions. Our recently patented technology allows for the inexpensive, simple and environmentally-friendly synthesis of a wide diversity of MOFs from well-known and safe reagents. The proposed research, which will allow us to scale-up our clean and inexpensive MOF manufacturing technology and expand the portfolio of accessible MOF products, will enable us to establish a MOF manufacturing company that will meet the needs of the emerging research and industrial applications markets by providing large amounts (10-100kg) of MOF products for a price that is 50% or less than what is currently offered.Our initial expected market is adsorbents, with a focus on fuel cell technology, but we also aim to provide products to research users with a variety of applications.