Hysteresis in the Physisorption of CO2 and N2 in a Flexible Pillared Layer Nickel Cyanide

Rare hysteretic adsorption/desorption isotherms are reported for CO2 and N2 on a pillared Ni(1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene)[Ni(CN)4] compound (NiBpeneNiCN). The hysteresis occurs under moderate pressure and at temperatures above the critical temperatures of the respective gases. Powder X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that the material is an extended three-dimensional analogue of the well-known Hofmann clathrates which is formed through axial bridging of the in-plane octahedral Ni sites by the bidentate 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene. The hysteretic behavior toward guest adsorption and desorption is attributed to a structural phase transition in the material resulting from a variation in the tilt angle of the 1,2-bis(4-pyridyl)ethylene pillars. Kinetics studies on the desorption of acetone from the material show two first-order processes with two rate constants yielding activation energies of 68 and 55 kJ/mol when loadings are greater than 1 equiv of acetone per formula unit. The CO2 adsorption/desorption...