Transformed from:China Science Magazine October 2022

Author |Yan Wenfu(Professor of Jilin University) |Zhang Bingzi(NSR Science Editor)

Molecular sieves are a class of crystalline microporous materials, whose framework consists of tetrahedral units.TO4(T = Si, Al, P, etc.) or a small part is composed of TO5, TO6 units. Because of its unique porous structure and function, molecular sieve has become an important catalyst in petrochemical and coal chemical industry, as well as an important adsorbent in dehydration, separation and CO2 capture processes. Academician Xu Rujin of Jilin University is a leader in the field of molecular sieve science in China, Asia and the world, the founder of inorganic synthesis in China, and the first scientist in the world to propose modern inorganic synthetic chemistry. Since the mid-1970s, Mr. Xu has been committed to molecular sieve scientific research and has made significant contributions to the development of the field. In 2017, he won the "China Molecular Sieve Lifetime Achievement Award".

Recently, the National Science Review (National Science Review,NSR) interviewed academician Xu rugren on the new progress and future development prospects in the field of molecular sieve. This interview coincides with Mr. Xu's 90th birthday. I would like to bless him with this document and pay tribute to his outstanding contributions to molecular sieve science, modern inorganic synthetic chemistry and new disciplines of condensed matter chemistry.

Academician Xu Ruren

NSR：Could you please introduce the development history of molecular sieves and porous materials, and the contribution of Jilin University team to the development of molecular sieves and porous materials?

xu ruren:In 1756, the Swedish mineralogist Axel Fredrik Cronstedt first proposed the term "zeolite" to name a new type of mineral that can generate large amounts of water vapor when rapidly heated. In the 1950 s, R.M.Milton of Union Carbide Company synthesized zeolite molecular sieves with microporous framework structure for the first time under hydrothermal conditions. Since then, people have been trying to explore and develop new molecular sieves and related porous materials.from aperture less2.0 nm molecular sieve, gradually expanded to the pore size between 2.0-50 nm mesoporous materials (including mesoporous polymers and mesoporous carbon materials), porous metal organic framework materials (MOFs) and organic porous materials (such as porous aromatic framework materials, PAFs), etc.It greatly enriches the category of porous materials and makes porous materials an important research field of materials science.

FromSince the mid-1970s, the research team of the State Key Laboratory of Inorganic Synthesis and Preparative Chemistry of Jilin University has been committed to the study of molecular sieves. Initially, it focused on the study of the crystallization mechanism of molecular sieves, and then synthesized heteroatom molecular sieves and microporous compounds of new framework elements. The most widely known, such as the synthesis of aluminum phosphate JDF-20 with the largest 20-member ring pore structure, is currently the only example of aluminum phosphate molecular sieve AlPO-CJB1 with Brönsted acidity, and chiral heteroatom aluminum phosphate molecular sieve MAPO-CJ40 with JRY structure.These are the molecular sieve structures successfully synthesized by Chinese scientists and discovered for the first time.

International counterparts in the field of molecular sieve research generally believe that the Jilin University team has developed a large number of molecular sieves with rich structure and composition, which is in a leading position in the world. These research results are also known as the third milestone in the development of the field. Our research team is called by international peers“Jilin Group"It is internationally renowned. Representatives of the team such as Jilin UniversityYu JihongAcademician and Zhejiang UniversityXiao FengshouProfessor. Yu Jihong has achieved great success in directional design and molecular engineering of molecular sieves, especially for the first time, the crystallization mechanism of hydroxyl radicals accelerating the nucleation of molecular sieves was discovered. She has also developed new applications for molecular sieves in catalysis, separation and energy storage. Professor Xiao Fengshou successfully developed a green synthesis route for molecular sieves, namely, a template-free solvent-free route and an efficient synergistic catalytic system.In the 1990 s, two doctors in our groupHuo QishengwithZhao DongyuanJoined the University of California, Santa BarbaraProfessor G.D.Stucky's research team has opened up the research field of "mesoporous materials" as the main backbone.KrishlonThe professor's rightearly development of MOFs, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) membranes,Zhu GuangshanProfessor in Systems ResearchPAFs and in the development of adsorption, separation and catalytic role of PAFs and COFs have made outstanding contributions. In the early 21st century, Fudan UniversityZhao DongyuanAcademician led his team in the international first put forward the organic-A new idea of organic self-assembly for the construction of ordered mesoporous polymers and carbon materials, and its application in macromolecular catalysis, adsorption separation, nano-assembly and biochemical systems. Their research results have greatly promoted the development of porous materials research and made important contributions to the field of molecular sieve research.

NSR：In recent years, you have been committed to promoting the construction of condensed matter chemistry and condensed matter engineering. Could you please talk about what condensed matter chemistry is, what is condensed matter engineering, and its relationship with modern chemical science?

Xu Ruren:FromSince the early 19th century, more 0.1 billion 90 million organic and inorganic substances have been discovered and have appeared in the scientific literature. Some of these substances are natural, and most of them are synthesized by humans through chemical reactions.Chemical reactions are at the heart of chemical science. According to the traditional chemical point of view, the main chemical reaction is molecules, atoms, ions and other basic particles. However, in fact, the molecules, atoms or ions that participate in the chemical reaction exist in the condensed state of the reaction material, such as solid, liquid, molten state, mesoscopic state and biological condensed state. therefore,The progress and results of chemical reactions are not only subject to the structure and composition of these elementary particles, but also depend on the complex physical and chemical environment, which is likely to be a multi-level structure, collectively known as the condensed state.[1-3]. In other words, the condensed state of matter is the main body of the chemical reaction. This applies not only to solids and liquids, but also to gas molecules, because most reactions between gas molecules can only take place under the action of catalysts with specific condensed states, or after state transitions under extreme reaction conditions. The reaction process, mechanism and reaction products may mainly depend on the composition and multi-level structure of the condensed catalyst.

In order to more accurately understand the chemical reaction, we need to establish a new chemical discipline, namely condensed matter chemistry, in order to better study and understand the actual reaction process of condensed matter chemical reaction, and establish the relationship between the functional groups, multi-level structure and properties of reactants in complex environment, which provides the basis for the construction of molecular engineering of functional condensed matter. I expect that big data and AI-based machine learning techniques are likely to play an integral role in the process, as we need to extract universal principles and rules from available data on reactants, reaction processes and reaction products, and reaction conditions. This process we may be able to draw on the principles and knowledge of condensed matter physics.

NSR：What do you think are the important research frontiers in the field of molecular sieves and porous materials?

xu ruren:I think the important frontier directions in this field include: (1) Theoretical research on the synthesis, characterization and function of molecular sieves and related porous materials and the development of new functional molecular sieves;(2) Structural design and directional synthesis of molecular sieves and porous materials with specific functions;(3) Developing condensed state engineering of porous materials, including structural design and directional construction (I .e. directional synthesis, precise preparation and self-assembly route) with specific condensed state function orientation.

NSR：Could you please talk about the relationship between molecular sieves and porous materials with condensed matter chemistry?

Xu Ruren:Taking molecular sieves with specific catalytic functions as an example, their synthesis and preparation stages and catalytic processes involve complex condensed state chemistry. Under the reaction conditions, the composition and multi-level structure of the specific condensed state catalytic material, the local microenvironment of the active center, the strong interaction between the active component and the specific structure carrier, etc., determine the catalytic mechanism, process, yield, side reaction and product type. For example, the crystallization process of molecular sieve catalysts is generally carried out under water (solvent) thermal conditions. The composition and structure of the liquid solution will affect the polycondensation between the reactants, the formation and composition of the colloidal state, the crystallization of the colloidal state under the action of the template, and the crystallinity of the crystalline product. These problems need to be studied at the level of condensed matter chemistry. The study of these problems will also promote the development of condensed matter chemistry.

NSR：How to realize the structural design and directional synthesis of molecular sieves and porous materials with specific functions?

Xu Ruren:One possible approach isBy strengthening the construction of condensed matter engineering (molecular engineering of functional condensed matter), combined with artificial intelligence technology to mine and model big data, the function of material condensed matter is established.-The relationship and law between structure and construction.. By establishing these relationships, we design the composition and structure of condensed molecular sieves based on specific functions, so as to realize the directional synthesis and accurate preparation of relevant molecular sieves./Modifications. The construction of condensed matter engineering in my country began with the "Construction of Molecular Engineering" project funded by the National Climbing Project in the early 1990 s. The main research members include Professor Tang Youqi of Peking University and two research teams led by me, as well as four other universities and two Many scientists from the institute. These projects lasted for twenty-five years, the first ten years funded by the Climbing Project and the last fifteen years funded by the 973 Project. Through these projects, we have gained a lot of knowledge and experience, and laid the foundation for the current development of condensed matter engineering.

NSR：What are your expectations and suggestions for young scholars working in the field of molecular sieves and porous materials?

Xu Ruren:Molecular sieves and related porous materials are extremely important materials with great application potential. Here, I encourage young scholars engaged in this field to develop new porous materials with new functions, explore new applications of porous materials, and study the directional construction and precise preparation of materials with specific multi-level structures in condensed matter,More from the perspective of condensed matter chemistry and physics to think about the problem. These new knowledge will be the basis and direction for the rapid development of condensed matter chemistry in other chemical fields.

References]

1.XuR.Natl Sci Rev2018; 5: 1.

2.XuR, Wang K and Chen Get al.Natl Sci Rev2019; 6: 191–4.

3.XuR, Yu J and Yan W.Prog Chem2020;32: 1017–48.