MOF Membranes and Their H 2 Separation Properties

This chapter overviews the best practices for the most common techniques and methods used to fabricate, activate, and characterize the metal–organic framework (MOF) membranes as well as the pore chemistry for H2 separation. It describes two prime classes of MOF membranes. The first conventional class of MOF membrane is “polycrystalline membranes.” In this class, MOF crystals are more or less randomly oriented and intergrown on the surface, which compromise elite features of the membrane network like continuous surface, regular crystalline growth, and controlled thickness. Another most spectacular and captivating class of MOF membrane is termed “surface-supported MOFs (SURMOFs).” These MOF membranes are ultrathin multilayers that are well oriented, with unidirectional growth of specimen and continuous surface compared with polycrystalline films. The chapter discusses synthetic strategies for polycrystalline and SURMOF membranes. A number of strategies have been used for the fabrication of MOF membranes. These strategies are “solution-based” and “vacuum-based” fabrication techniques.