Dynamic pore adjustment in Cu-BTC via incorporating mobile Cu-Salophen for superior selective adsorption of CO2 from CO2/N2 mixture

The escalating atmospheric concentration of CO 2 has intensified the demand for efficient carbon capture technologies. Here, an innovative composite adsorbent, Cu-Salophen@Cu-BTC, was successfully synthesized via an in-situ encapsulation strategy to enhance the selective adsorption of CO 2 from CO 2 /N 2 mixture. The incorporation of Cu-Salophen into the Cu-BTC framework was confirmed through XRD, ICP-OES, and FT-IR analyses. The composite exhibited a notable improvement in CO 2 uptake capacity, reaching 8.14 mmol g −1 (273 K) and 4.63 mmol g −1 (298 K) at 100 kPa, representing increases of 11.81% and 12.11%, respectively, compared to pristine Cu-BTC. Moreover, the CO 2 /N 2 separation performance was enhanced by 23.44% (273 K) and 36.06% (298 K). GCMC simulations revealed that the superior performance arises from the synergistic effects of additional adsorption affinities of CO 2 and real-time pore size regulation enabled by the mobile Cu-Salophen molecules. The composite also demonstrated excellent recyclability and improved water stability, underscoring its potential for industrial post-combustion CO 2 capture.