Sunlight assisted highly efficient desorption of ammonia by redox graphene hybrid metal–organic framework photothermal conversion adsorbents

The capture, storage and release of NH3 play a pivotal role in sustainable energy applications. However, to simultaneously achieve high adsorption capacity and low energy desorption remains a challenge. In this work, a novel class of hybrid materials with photothermal conversion performance have been developed by doping redox graphene and metal–organic framework of MOF-303(Al). It is found that the optimized rGO@MOF-303(Al)-8% exhibits high NH3 uptake (17.0 mmol g−1) at 25.0 °C and 1.0 bar and exceptional photothermal conversion performance. Under the irradiation of simulated sunlight, its temperature can be raised to about 75 °C in 10 min. Even under direct natural sunlight irradiation, a stable equilibrium temperature of 53 °C may be achieved. Based on this excellent photothermal conversion performance, we investigated the desorption behavior of ammonia under visible light irradiation for the first time. We found that due to the breakdown of hydrogen bonds of NH3 and N-N, N–H sites of rGO@MOF-303(Al)-8% caused by the rapid rise of temperature, approximately 68% of NH3 could be effectively desorbed in 2-hour irradiation under ambient conditions. In addition, the optimized adsorbent demonstrated remarkable cycling stability. After undergoing 10 cycles, high adsorption capacity and efficient light-induced desorption of NH3 were still maintained Thus, the present study provides a novel concept for high-capacity adsorption and low-energy desorption of NH3 and other industrial gases.