ZIF for CO2 Capture: Structure, Mechanism, Optimization, and Modeling

The requirement to counter carbon emissions is becoming urgent. Zeolitic Imidazolate Frameworks (ZIFs) have been extensively investigated recently for storing and separating gases, especially carbon dioxide. The present review aims to summarise the state of the art of ZIFs for carbon dioxide capture focusing on the structure, mechanism, optimisation, and modelling. The methods utilised for carbon capture are briefly summarized. The morphology of ZIFs with different topologies, N2-CO2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, X-ray diffraction patterns, thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) results are discussed to give insights into the textural properties, structure-activity relationship and structural-thermal stability of ZIFs. Finally, the experimental optimisation techniques, modelling and simulation studies for improving CO2 capture by ZIFs are discussed. This review should provide a comprehensive and quick understanding of this research area. It is timely to summarize and review ongoing developments in this growing field to accelerate the research in the right direction.