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World desk2 min

Can a Metal–Organic Framework Capture Neon? What a 2016 Study Found

Researchers observed neon inside two porous frameworks, including an interaction with exposed nickel in NiMOF-74. The finding was a laboratory structural result, not a commercial capture process.
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Yes—in a laboratory experiment, researchers reported neon adsorbed inside two metal–organic frameworks. In one of them, NiMOF-74, they observed neon interacting with exposed nickel sites. The result was a structural observation under low-temperature, high-pressure conditions, not proof of an industrial neon-capture process.

What the study actually demonstrated

A 2016 paper reported what its authors described as the first crystallographic observation of neon in an organic or metal–organic environment, including the first observed interaction between neon and a transition metal. The researchers used X-ray diffraction to locate neon in porous frameworks. This established that neon could be observed within these materials under the experiment’s conditions; it did not establish a practical method for separating neon from air.

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The paper is Peter A. Wood, Amy A. Sarjeant, Andrey A. Yakovenko, Suzanna C. Ward, and Colin R. Groom, “Capturing neon – the first experimental structure of neon trapped within a metal–organic environment,” published in Chemical Communications in 2016. Read the journal record and abstract.

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How the two frameworks differed

The experiment examined a nickel framework and a copper framework. The reported interactions were not the same:

Framework Composition Reported neon interaction
NiMOF-74 Porous nickel material Neon interacted with exposed nickel sites; the material also showed a physical change upon depressurization.
PCN-200 Porous copper material Neon interactions were described as van der Waals interactions.

The contrast matters: the study did not show that every metal–organic framework binds neon in the same way. The reported interaction with exposed transition-metal sites was specific to NiMOF-74 in this comparison.

Why the experiment needed unusual conditions

Neon is a light, inert gas, making its position difficult to establish by diffraction. The researchers combined in-situ X-ray powder diffraction with low temperature and high pressure. Chemistry World reported adsorption experiments across 5–100 bar; that range describes experimental pressure, not capture efficiency. The Advanced Photon Source account explains that the combination of measurement technique and conditions enabled the team to identify neon positions. Read the Advanced Photon Source account.

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The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre’s 2019 graphic gives −173 °C for the nickel-framework experiment. This is an experimental temperature, not a suggested operating condition for a commercial device. See the CCDC explanation.

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Does this mean neon can now be captured for use?

Not on the evidence reported here. The study showed where neon was found in two frameworks and how it interacted with them under demanding laboratory conditions. The cited accounts present more selective capture—distinguishing neon from other atmospheric gases—as a possible future direction, not a demonstrated result.

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  • No verified capture capacity or selectivity factor is reported in the sources cited here.
  • No industrial yield, cost reduction, or commercial deployment is established.
  • The experiment’s pressure and temperature figures are conditions used to observe the material, not performance specifications for a production process.

Thus, “captures” is accurate only in the narrow experimental sense of neon being adsorbed and structurally observed in a porous material. It should not be read as evidence that NiMOF-74 or PCN-200 is ready to extract neon economically from air.

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