Rapid Production of Metal–Organic Frameworks Based Separators in Industrial-Level Efficiency

Abstract

Metal–organic framework (MOF) based mixed matrix membranes (MMMs) have received significant attention in applications such as gas separation, sensing, and energy storage. However, the mass production of MOF-based MMMs with retained porosity remains a longstanding challenge. Herein, an in situ heat-assisted solvent-evaporation method is described to facilely produce MOF-based MMMs. This method can be extended into various MOFs and polymers with minimum reaction time of 5 min. Thus-obtained MMMs with high uniformity, excellent robustness, well-tuned loading, and thickness can be massively produced in industrial-level efficiency (≈4 m in a batch experiment). Furthermore, they can be readily applied as powerful separators for Li–S cell with high specific capacity (1163.7 mAh g−1) and a capacity retention of 500.7 mAh g−1 after 700 cycles at 0.5 C (0.08% fading per cycle). This work may overcome the longstanding challenge of processing MOFs into MMMs and largely facilitate the industrialization process of MOFs.