Electric current-assisted synthesis of ZIF-8 with stoichiometric metal and ligand precursors for CO2 adsorption

Zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) crystals were obtained by an electric current-assisted synthesis method with stoichiometric Zn 2+ and 2-methylimidazole precursors. The resulting ZIF-8-CS2 shows enhanced CO 2 adsorption performance (31.2 cm 3 /g) with CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of 9 at 273 K, while ZIF-8 prepared without electric current assistance shows CO 2 adsorption of 18.4 cm 3 /g and CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of 5. The increased CO 2 adsorption ability is ascribed to the high specific surface area and total pore volume of ZIF-8-CS2.