Moisture can cause irreversible structural collapse in microporous coordination polymers (MCPs), resulting in decreased internal surface areas and sorption capacities. The details of such structural collapse with regard to pore size evolution during degradation are currently unknown due to a lack of suitable in situ probes of porosity. The reduction of the annihilation lifetime of positronium in porous material can be reliably correlated to the pore diameter. Thus positronium annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) can be used to monitor pore evolution of MCPs in real-time under humid conditions. Here we discuss the moisture-induced degradation mechanism of MCPs using powder X-ray diffraction analysis, gas adsorption measurements and PALS techniques. Our work provides insight into porosity evolution under industrially relevant conditions as well as identifying chemical characteristics influencing stability.

Interaction between water and microporous coordination polymers probed with antimatter

245th National Meeting (2013)

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