(376a) Rapid Production of Large Area Metal-Organic Framework (MOF)-Fabric for Particulate Matter Filtration

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) have been used in different types of separations and filtration applications due to their ordered and tunable porosity. In recent years, MOFs have been utilized to filter particulate matter by incorporating them into membranes and fabrics. Also, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and rising air pollution, requirement for novel particulate filtration technology has become evident and MOFs have the potential to enhance this technology. However, one of the major obstacles impeding the widespread use of MOF-fabrics for particulate matter filtration is the scalability of creating MOF-fabrics to achieve large areas, high throughput production. This is because the use of toxic chemicals like dimethylformamide (DMF) as the synthesis solvent and high synthesis time make it difficult for scaling up.

In this study, we utilize the rapid aqueous synthesis of a Zirconium-MOF UiO-6 6 on the surface of different fabrics using sequential dip coating (SQD), and we evaluate the effectiveness of these MOF-fabrics for particulate air filtration. We then scale up this process by using industrial roll-to-roll coating process to produce large area MOF-fabric. Use of non-toxic solvent and the rapid synthesis technique allowed us to synthesize large area MOF-fabric in a time scale of 2 hours which is significantly better than conventional MOF-fabric synthesis. We tested the reusability of these MOF-fabrics by washing them multiple times. Even after 25 washing cycles, the MOF-fabrics showed continued efficacy. This study shows the synthesis of reusable, large area MOF-fabric by using roll-to-roll coating and demonstrates its practicality as a particulate matter filter.