Liquid acid-catalysed fabrication of nanoporous 1,3,5-triazine frameworks with efficient and selective CO2 uptake

New classes of nanoporous organic polymers based on 1,3,5-triazine units (NOP-1–6) were synthesized via a straightforward, methane-sulfonic acid-catalysed, cost-effective Friedel–Crafts reaction of 2,4,6-trichloro-1,3,5-triazine and tetrahedral building blocks. Among them, NOP-3 with a Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) specific surface area up to 894 m2 g−1 and the total volume exceeding 0.41 m3 g−1 exhibits good hydrogen adsorption capacity (up to 1.14 wt% at 77 K/1.0 bar) and high carbon dioxide uptake (up to 11.03 wt% at 273 K/1.0 bar). Furthermore, it presents an effective selectivity for CO2 adsorption (NOP-6, CO2/N2 selectivity 38.7 at 273 K/1.0 bar), demonstrating potential applications in gas adsorption and separation.