An ambient aqueous route to scalable ZIF-8 fabrics for harmful gas capture

Abstract

Removing specific environmental and harmful contaminants presents a significant technological challenge. While zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) in powder form has excellent gas adsorption capacity and stability, developing an eco-friendly method to effectively incorporate the ZIF-8 powder into flexible substrates is crucial for its practical applications. Herein, we propose a solid-state method to prepare self-sacrificial ZnO template, and then convert the template into ZIF-8 coating on fabrics in an ambient aqueous solution. The randomly aligned ZnO nanorods on fabric surfaces serve as both sacrificial templates and nucleation sites, and the solid-liquid interfacial coordination between Zn2+ released from ZnO and 2-methylimidazole aqueous solution enabled rapid formation of a dense ZIF-8 intergrown coating with tunable size and loading content. The mechanism of the transformation from solid precursor to crystalline ZIF-8 coating was inferred. The coated fabrics featured outstanding stability and easy processability. Furthermore, the porous fabric showed high adsorption capability, stability and recyclability for ammonia. This inexpensive, controllable and scalable method for synthesizing ZIF-8 coatings in an ambient aqueous solution offers a feasible route for the applications of human health and environmental sustainability. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]