A range of metal-organic framework (MOF) materials have shown great promise both as an effective adsorbent and, more importantly, as a rapid and efficient means of catalyzing the detoxification or destruction of the harmful chemicals. They have traditionally been held back by their nanometer- to submicron-scale particle powders, making them impractical to integrate into conventional filter masks. Mainstream has developed and presented the results of our highly scalable and tunable process to produce high porosity-engineered MOF-polymer beads that enables them as direct replacements for carbon in filter cartridges. This platform approach, has been demonstrated as applicable to a wide range of MOF materials, bead size can be controlled down to 0.1 mm with high MOF loading, no loss of active MOF surface area, high stability, low-pressure drop, and no dusting.
We will discuss the use of a range of encapsulated MOFs for key toxic chemicals and simulants, providing insight into the MOF and bead adsorption kinetics, breakthrough behavior, and degradation rate as they are incorporated into a functional device in a range of environments (temperature and humidity). The device performance is dependent on the integration of the beads, impacting overall pressure drop and breathing resistance. Additionally, we will explore how these tuned MOF parameters can enable increased operational time and reuse of filters, advancing the development of PPE and MOF materials.