This research looks into methods to recycle commonly used solvents in Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) chemistry, namely N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), and acetone. This will be accomplished using various techniques commonly available to most chemistry labs in order to determine methods to make these solvents reusable and minimize the waste produced while synthesizing and purifying MOFs.

The research looks at a variety of factors including time, cost, and energy used in the process of recycling these solvents, and the researchers hope to develop a procedure that is time-efficient, economically feasible, and energy-efficient. The hope is to use the findings to further improve the green potential that MOFs provide by reducing waste from one-time usage, packaging, and transportation of new solvents with a reduction in transportation having new importance due to recent awareness of supply-chain vulnerabilities. This project hopes to inform processes at some of Concordias chemistry labs that use these solvents in hopes of recycling them.

Themes: Energy, Resources & Technology, Waste