Construction of Molecular Fans in Metal-Organic Framework to Overcome Diffusion Resistance in Molecular-size-matched Pores for Trace Benzene Capture

Construction of Molecular Fans in Metal-Organic Framework to Overcome Diffusion Resistance in Molecular-size-matched Pores for Trace Benzene Capture | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Construction of Molecular Fans in Metal-Organic Framework to Overcome Diffusion Resistance in Molecular-size-matched Pores for Trace Benzene Capture Wenhao Wu, Zhaowei Huang, Xi Yang, Yi Luan, Yuanbo He, Xiaotong Yun, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8795260/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Molecular size-matched pores of adsorbents provide strong adsorptive forces for benzene, but high diffusion resistance. Overcoming the diffusion resistance within molecular size-matched pores is essential to efficient capture of trace benzene from indoor air or industrial exhaust gas, but challenging. Herein, we report a robust Fe-based metal-organic framework (ZJU-701) featuring hierarchical micropores (5.8 ± 0.9, 10.2 ± 2.3, and 21.2 ± 1.4 Å) and molecular fans with 1,4-naphthylene as rotors between micropores. ZJU-701 shows adsorption rate constant of 6.0×10⁻ 3 min⁻¹ and adsorption capacity of 2.05 mmol·g⁻¹ for benzene at P/P₀ =0.001 and 298 K, surpassing other benchmark adsorbents. Strikingly, ZJU-701 exhibits only 8.2% loss of dynamic adsorption capacity for trace benzene as the gas flow rate increases from 0.03 to 0.12 m·s⁻¹, much lower than other benchmark adsorbents (23.3%~83.1%). This work pioneers the dynamic pore-engineering with molecular fans to overcome diffusion resistance within molecular size-matched pores and balance adsorption rate and capacity for trace gas capture. Physical sciences/Chemistry Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis/Metal–organic frameworks Metal-organic framework Molecular fans Trace benzene capture Adsorption rate Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files Supplementaryinformation.docx Supplementary information of main manuscript Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8795260","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":588847281,"identity":"d7483df5-d8d8-4578-95c2-f6fc2ee4f5e7","order_by":0,"name":"Wenhao 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rate","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8795260/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8795260/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMolecular size-matched pores of adsorbents provide strong adsorptive forces for benzene, but high diffusion resistance. Overcoming the diffusion resistance within molecular size-matched pores is essential to efficient capture of trace benzene from indoor air or industrial exhaust gas, but challenging. Herein, we report a robust Fe-based metal-organic framework (ZJU-701) featuring hierarchical micropores (5.8\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;0.9, 10.2\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;2.3, and 21.2\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.4 \u0026Aring;) and molecular fans with 1,4-naphthylene as rotors between micropores. ZJU-701 shows adsorption rate constant of 6.0\u0026times;10⁻\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e min⁻\u0026sup1; and adsorption capacity of 2.05 mmol\u0026middot;g⁻\u0026sup1; for benzene at \u003cem\u003eP/P₀\u003c/em\u003e=0.001 and 298 K, surpassing other benchmark adsorbents. Strikingly, ZJU-701 exhibits only 8.2% loss of dynamic adsorption capacity for trace benzene as the gas flow rate increases from 0.03 to 0.12 m\u0026middot;s⁻\u0026sup1;, much lower than other benchmark adsorbents (23.3%~83.1%). This work pioneers the dynamic pore-engineering with molecular fans to overcome diffusion resistance within molecular size-matched pores and balance adsorption rate and capacity for trace gas capture.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Construction of Molecular Fans in Metal-Organic Framework to Overcome Diffusion Resistance in Molecular-size-matched Pores for Trace Benzene Capture","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-16 03:43:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8795260/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"edbf7e98-e867-4dbd-bb90-97ee6ee2fca0","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 16th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":62646000,"name":"Physical sciences/Chemistry"},{"id":62646001,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Materials for energy and catalysis/Metal\u0026#x2013;organic frameworks"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-02-16T03:43:04+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-16 03:43:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8795260","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8795260","identity":"rs-8795260","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}