Adsorption deformation of microporous composites

We study here the behavior of flexible adsorbent materials, or soft porous crystals, when used in practical applications as nanostructured composites such as core-shell particles or mixed matrix membranes. Based on simple models and the well-established laws of elasticity, we demonstrate how the presence of a binder results in an attenuation of the adsorption-induced stress and deformation. In the case where the adsorbent undergoes adsorption-induced structural transitions, such as the gate opening phenomenon occurring in some metal-organic frameworks, we show that the presence of the binder will result in shifts of the adsorption-induced transition pressures. We demonstrate a theoretical model to describe the behavior of flexible adsorbent materials, or soft porous crystals, when used in practical applications as nanostructured composites such as core-shell particles or mixed matrix membranes.