Rational Design and Quantitative Evaluation of MOF-Based Stationary Phases for High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

• Applicant: Dr.-Ing. Malvina Supper
• Subject Area: Technical Chemistry
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 586202551

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a novel class of highly porous materials that can be envisioned as a "molecular construction kit" assembled from metal nodes and organic building blocks. Their unique advantage lies in their extremely regular pores, whose size and chemical properties can be tailored with near-limitless precision. This opens up entirely new possibilities for chemical analysis, particularly for the separation of complex mixtures in High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), where conventional materials often reach their limits. Although MOFs have already demonstrated exceptional separation properties, it remains unclear exactly how the material’s structure influences the speed and quality of the separation. In practice, this means that many MOF-based separations are still slow or inefficient. The goal of this project is to decode the physical laws underlying these separation processes. To achieve this, specific MOFs with defined particle sizes and pore channels will be synthesized and integrated into HPLC columns. Through precise measurements of mass transfer, the project will investigate how quickly target molecules move through the pore system and which factors hinder the separation. The insights gained will be used to establish clear "design rules" for the next generation of separation materials. These rules will be validated using challenging examples, such as the purification of building blocks for pharmaceuticals or complex polymers. By enhancing separation efficiency, this work also contributes to more sustainable chemistry: optimized MOF phases can significantly reduce solvent consumption and shorten production times in the pharmaceutical industry. Ultimately, this project will evolve MOFs from laboratory research objects into reliable and predictable tools for modern chemical engineering and analytical science.

• DFG Programme: Fellowship
• International Connection: Japan
• Host: Professor Takashi Uemura, Ph.D.