System and process for continuous and controlled production of metal-organic frameworks and metal-organic framework composites

A continuous method for making Metal Organic Framework (MOF) composites that include a core and a shell about the core, the method comprising a first series of steps to form a core and a second series of steps to form a shell about the core, the first and the second series of steps of the method comprising:

• performing the first series of steps in the following order:
• providing a first MOF solution of a first MOF precursor and a first solvent, wherein the first MOF precursor comprises a salt of a metal comprising cobalt, aluminum, or chromium and a first linker comprising a terephthalic acid or a dihydoxyterephthalic acid;
• forming a plume of aerosolized liquid droplets of the first MOF solution;
• suspending the aerosolized liquid droplets of the first MOF solution in a carrier gas in a fluidized bed reactor;
• condensing the aerosolized liquid droplets of the first MOF solution to form seed MOF particles;
• removing the first solvent from the MOF seed particles to form cores of the MOF composites;
• after performing the first series of steps, performing the second series of steps in the following order:
• providing a second MOF solution of a second MOF precursor and a second solvent, wherein the second MOF precursor comprises a salt of metal comprising Ni, Zn, Co, Mg, Mn, Fe, or Cu, and a second linker comprising a dihydoxyterephthalic acid;
• forming a plume of aerosolized liquid droplets of the second MOF solution;
• suspending the aerosolized liquid droplets of the second MOF solution in the carrier gas in the fluidized bed reactor;
• condensing the aerosolized liquid droplets of the second MOF solution to form the shell onto the existing MOF cores formed in the first series of steps to form the MOF composites;
• and
• removing the second solvent from the MOF composites, wherein the MOF composites are from 200 μm to 1500 μm in size.