A solid solution zeolitic imidazolate framework as a room temperature efficient catalyst for the chemical fixation of CO2Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6gc01614f

• Main Authors: Kuruppathparambil, Roshith Roshan, Babu, Robin, Jeong, Hye Min, Hwang, Gyu-Young, Jeong, Gyeong Seon, Kim, Moon-Il, Kim, Dong-Woo, Park, Dae-Won
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1463-9262; 1463-9270
• DOI: 10.1039/c6gc01614f

An energy efficient and economically viable bimetallic heterogeneous catalyst system composed of Co and Zn as active centers and 2-methylimidazole as a linker has been synthesized in water at room temperature. The synthesized material (CZ-ZIF) possesses a sodalite topology, similar to the parent materials, ZIF-8 and ZIF-67, with a high surface area of >1400 m 2 g −1 . The Zn and Co metal ions were shown to occupy equivalent sites throughout the framework in similar proportions, as confirmed by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy techniques. CZ-ZIF rendered a high catalytic conversion of epoxides to five-membered cyclic carbonates using CO 2 as the C1 source under solvent- and co-catalyst-free conditions with excellent selectivity and manifested better catalytic abilities than ZIF-67 and enhanced framework stability compared to ZIF-8. Furthermore, CZ-ZIF exhibited catalytic activity even at room temperature in the presence of a co-catalyst, and was reusable over a minimum of five cycles with no noticeable decrease in activity. A plausible mechanism for CZ-ZIF catalyzed solvent- and co-catalyst-free epoxide-CO 2 cycloaddition has been proposed. A solid solution ZIF as a versatile and eco-friendly catalyst for CO 2 fixation at room temperature.