A Chromium Terephthalate-Based Solid with Unusually Large Pore Volumes and Surface Area

by G. Férey et al. Science, 23 Sep 2005 We combined targeted chemistry and computational design to create a crystal structure for porous chromium terephthalate, MIL-101, withverylargeporesizes and surface area. Its zeotype cubic structure has a giant cell volume (~702,000 cubic angstroms), a hierarchy of extra-large pore sizes (~30 to 34 angstroms), and a Langmuir surface area for N₂ of ~5900 ± 300 square meters per gram. Beside the usual properties of porous compounds, this solid has potential as a nanomold for monodisperse nanomaterials, as illustrated here by the incorporation of Keggin polyanions within the cages. Read more