Gold Price 1.5 Times Higher: Ultra-High-Cost 'Palladium Catalyst' Becomes Recyclable

UNIST Professors Nam Myungsoo and Baek Seungbin's Team Secures Metal-Organic Framework Deformation Technology

Schematic diagram of the palladium catalyst synthesis process and its application to the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction. Image courtesy of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A new synthesis technology has been developed that allows high-value catalytic materials such as palladium, which is more expensive than gold, to be recycled multiple times. This technology is attracting attention as it reduces process costs and decreases the consumption of limited precious metal mineral resources.

Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) announced on the 22nd that Professor Myungsoo Na and Research Professor Seungbin Baek from the Department of Chemistry, in collaboration with Professor Min Kim's team from the Department of Chemistry at Chungbuk National University, have developed a synthesis technology that modifies metal-organic frameworks (MOFs).

This technology intentionally breaks the framework structure to insert new metal ions. By inserting metals such as palladium or cobalt into the MOF using this synthesis technology, recyclable catalysts can be created. The palladium catalyst synthesized with this technology maintained similar performance even after being reused more than five times. Palladium is an essential catalytic material used in the synthesis of high value-added compounds such as pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and its price has recently surged to 1.5 times that of gold due to increased demand for vehicle exhaust gas reduction catalysts.

The MOF modified by the research team is MOF-74. MOFs are materials composed of metal and organic molecules forming a porous framework structure. Due to their many pores, they are gaining attention as catalyst supports and gas storage materials. MOF-74 is known for its easy synthesis and high stability among MOFs, but it was considered nearly impossible to insert highly active catalytic metals such as platinum or palladium into its framework structure.

The research team artificially created a ‘defect structure’ where the chemical bonds between metal and organic molecules were broken, then attached amine functional groups (-NH2) to the cut sites. They induced defects while adding organic ligands containing amine groups to trigger this reaction. By further modifying the functional groups at the cut sites, it became possible to attach metal ions such as palladium, cobalt, or copper. Metal ions are attached to both ends of the organic molecules, but only one side’s bond is broken, maintaining the three-dimensional structure.

The palladium-inserted MOF-74 showed 70?99% efficiency as a catalyst for the Suzuki-Miyaura reaction. The Suzuki-Miyaura reaction is widely used in the manufacture of high value-added compounds such as pharmaceuticals and employs palladium catalysts. Conventional palladium catalysts are not reusable (homogeneous catalysts), but the MOF-74 catalyst developed this time (heterogeneous catalyst) is reusable. Experimental results showed that it maintained similar performance even after five reuses.

Professor Myungsoo Na said, “This has great academic significance in that it introduced functional groups into MOFs as desired by inducing defects within the structure through a new approach, thereby adding additional functions,” and added, “If the manufacturing technology is commercialized successfully, it will be valuable as a new catalyst manufacturing technology that can drastically reduce the soaring consumption of palladium precious metals.”

This research was also selected as the front cover paper of the prestigious chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.) and was published online on the 19th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.