Room temperature reduction of nitrogen oxide on iron Metal-Organic Frameworks

Air pollution is an epochal concern, particularly in urban areas, and is linked to combustion processes 1 . The emission of nitrogen oxides (NOx) constitutes a critical environmental problem, and it can affect severely human health2,3,4 . At ambient temperature and pressure NOx decomposition is thermodynamically favoured; however, this process is kinetically inhibited, owing to a high activation energy5,6 . To date, no reported catalysts have had the required properties to lower the activation energy of this process without the help of coreacting agents and high temperatures7,8,9 . Here, we show that NO conversion to molecular nitrogen can be achieved at room temperature in the presence of O2 and H2O vapour, and in the absence of any further reducing agent, using iron-based Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs). Further, we demonstrate that MOFs work similarly to enzymes, but are stable in environments unfriendly to living matter. These findings open large perspectives on the solution of stringent problems in chemistry, such as the removal of pollutants or the activation of highly stable molecules.