Water Stable Zr–Benzenedicarboxylate Metal–Organic Frameworks as Photocatalysts for Hydrogen Generation

The Zr‐containing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) formed by terephthalate (UiO‐66) and 2‐aminoterephthalate ligands [UiO‐66(NH₂)] are two notably water‐resistant MOFs that exhibit photocatalytic activity for hydrogen generation in methanol or water/methanol upon irradiation at wavelength longer than 300 nm. The apparent quantum yield for H₂ generation using monochromatic light at 370 nm in water/methanol 3:1 was of 3.5 % for UiO‐66(NH₂). Laser‐flash photolysis has allowed detecting for UiO‐66 and UiO‐66(NH₂) the photochemical generation of a long lived charge separated state whose decay is not complete 300 μs after the laser flash. Our finding and particularly the influence of the amino group producing a bathochromic shift in the optical spectrum without altering the photochemistry shows promises for the development of more efficient MOFs for water splitting.     

Nanosized Functional MOFs Loading Ag/AgBr with Throughout‐Visible‐Light Absorption for High‐Efficiency Photocatalysis

Porous metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) loading metal nanoparticles to form a composite photocatalyst demonstrated unique advantages. Modification of the electron donating group on the aromatic linkers of MOFs could increase the absorption range of light, thereby increasing the photocatalytic activity. In this study, we prepared a composite photocatalyst using a stable NH₂‐functionalized MOF (UiO‐66‐NH₂) to load semiconductor Ag/AgBr nanoparticles, and the resultant composites have intense optical absorption throughout visible light range. The greatly enhanced optical absorption and the unique hetero‐junction between Ag/AgBr and UiO‐66‐NH₂ render efficient separation and utilization of photogenerated electron‐hole pairs. Therefore, Ag/AgBr@UiO‐66‐NH₂ showed much more excellent photocatalytic activity, compared with unmodified UiO‐66 loading Ag/AgBr (Ag/AgBr@UiO‐66) and reported AgX@MOF catalysts. Moreover, the composite photocatalysts showed excellent stability during cycling experiment.     

Spray‐Coating of Catalytically Active MOF–Polythiourea through Postsynthetic Polymerization

A UiO‐66‐NCS MOF was formed by postsynthetic modification of UiO‐66‐NH₂. The UiO‐66‐NCS MOFs displays a circa 20‐fold increase in activity against the chemical warfare agent simulant dimethyl‐4‐nitrophenyl phosphate (DMNP) compared to UiO‐66‐NH₂, making it the most active MOF materials using a validated high‐throughput screening. The ?NCS functional groups provide reactive handles for postsynthetic polymerization of the MOFs into functional materials. These MOFs can be tethered to amine‐terminated polypropylene polymers (Jeffamines) through a facile room‐temperature synthesis with no byproducts. The MOFs are then crosslinked into a MOF–polythiourea (MOF–PTU) composite material, maintaining the catalytic properties of the MOF and the flexibility of the polymer. This MOF–PTU hybrid material was spray‐coated onto Nyco textile fibers, displaying excellent adhesion to the fiber surface. The spray‐coated fibers were screened for the degradation of DMNP and showed durable catalytic reactivity.     

Metal–Organic Gel Material Based on UiO‐66‐NH2 Nanoparticles for Improved Adsorption and Conversion of Carbon Dioxide

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) including the UiO‐66 series show potential application in the adsorption and conversion of CO₂. Herein, we report the first tetravalent metal‐based metal–organic gels constructed from Zr^IV and 2‐aminoterephthalic acid (H₂BDC‐NH₂). The ZrBDC‐NH₂ gel materials are based on UiO‐66‐NH₂ nanoparticles and were easily prepared under mild conditions (80 °C for 4.5 h). The ZrBDC‐NH₂‐1:1‐0.2 gel material has a high surface area (up to 1040 m² g^?1) and showed outstanding performance in CO₂ adsorption (by using the dried material) and conversion (by using the wet gel) arising from the combined advantages of the gel and the UiO‐66‐NH₂ MOF. The ZrBDC‐NH₂‐1:1‐0.2 dried material showed 38 % higher capture capacity for CO₂ at 298 K than microcrystalline UiO‐66‐NH₂. It showed high ideal adsorbed solution theory selectivity (71.6 at 298 K) for a CO₂/N₂ gas mixture (molar ratio 15:85). Furthermore, the ZrBDC‐NH₂‐1:1‐0.2 gel showed activity as a heterogeneous catalyst in the chemical fixation of CO₂ and an excellent catalytic performance was achieved for the cycloaddition of atmospheric pressure of CO₂ to epoxides at 373 K. In addition, the gel catalyst could be reused over multiple cycles with no considerable loss of catalytic activity.     

Switching on the Photocatalysis of Metal–Organic Frameworks by Engineering Structural Defects

Defect engineering is a versatile approach to modulate band and electronic structures as well as materials performance. Herein, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) featuring controlled structural defects, namely UiO‐66‐NH₂‐X (X represents the molar equivalents of the modulator, acetic acid, with respect to the linker in synthesis), were synthesized to systematically investigate the effect of structural defects on photocatalytic properties. Remarkably, structural defects in MOFs are able to switch on the photocatalysis. The photocatalytic H₂ production rate presents a volcano‐type trend with increasing structural defects, where Pt@UiO‐66‐NH₂‐100 exhibits the highest activity. Ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy unveils that UiO‐66‐NH₂‐100 with moderate structural defects possesses the fastest relaxation kinetics and the highest charge separation efficiency, while excessive defects retard the relaxation and reduce charge separation efficiency.     

Hierarchical Pore Development by Plasma Etching of Zr‐Based Metal–Organic Frameworks

The typically stable Zr‐based metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) UiO‐66 and UiO‐66‐NH₂ were treated with tetrafluoromethane (CF₄) and hexafluoroethane (C₂F₆) plasmas. Through interactions between fluoride radicals from the perfluoroalkane plasma and the zirconium–oxygen bonds of the MOF, the resulting materials showed the development of mesoporosity, creating a hierarchical pore structure. It is anticipated that this strategy can be used as a post‐synthetic technique for developing hierarchical networks in a variety of MOFs.     

Preparation and evaluation of open‐tubular capillary column combining a metal–organic framework and a brush‐shaped polymer for liquid chromatography

In this work, an open‐tubular capillary liquid‐phase column was prepared by modifying chain polymer on the inner surface of capillary and chemical bonding of metal organic frameworks, NH₂‐UiO‐66, to the brushes of chain polymer (poly(glycidyl methacrylate)). Besides advantages of facial preparation and good permeability, the chain polymer effectively increases the modification amount of NH₂‐UiO‐66 nanoparticles to increase the phase ratio of open‐tubular capillary column and enhance the interactions with analytes. The results of scanning electron microscope energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectra indicated that NH₂‐UiO‐66 nanoparticles were successfully bonded to the chain polymer. Because of the hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding interaction between the analytes and the ligand of NH₂‐UiO‐66, different analytes were well separated on the NH₂‐UiO‐66‐modified poly(glycidyl methacrylate) capillary (1.12 m × 25 μm id × 365 μm od) with the high absolute column efficiency reaching 121 477 plates, benefiting from an open‐tubular column and low mass transfer resistance provided by polymer brush and metal–organic framework crystal. The relative standard deviations of the retention time for run‐to‐run, day‐to‐day, and column‐to‐column (n = 3) runs are below 4.28%, exhibiting good repeatability. Finally, the column was successfully applied to separation of flavonoids in licorice.     

Combination of Optimization and Metalated‐Ligand Exchange: An Effective Approach to Functionalize UiO‐66(Zr) MOFs for CO2 Separation

The strategy to functionalize water‐stable metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) in order to improve their CO₂ uptake capacities for efficient CO₂ separation remains limited and challenging. We herein present an effective approach to functionalize a prominent water‐stable MOF, UiO‐66(Zr), by a combination of optimization and metalated‐ligand exchange. In particular, by systematic optimization, we have successfully obtained UiO‐66(Zr) of the highest BET surface area reported so far (1730 m² g^?1). Moreover, it shows a hybrid Type I/IV N₂ isotherm at 77 K and a mesopore size of 3.9 nm for the first time. The UiO‐66 MOF underwent a metalated‐ligand‐exchange (MLE) process to yield a series of new UiO‐66‐type MOFs, among which UiO‐66‐(COONa)₂‐EX and UiO‐66‐(COOLi)₄‐EX MOFs have both enhanced CO₂ working capacity and IAST CO₂/N₂ selectivity. Our approach has thus suggested an alternative design to achieve water‐stable MOFs with high crystallinity and gas uptake for efficient CO₂ separation.     

Long‐Term Photostability in Terephthalate Metal–Organic Frameworks

Prolonged (weeks) UV/Vis irradiation under Ar of UiO‐66(Zr), UiO66 Zr‐NO₂, MIL101 Fe, MIL125 Ti‐NH₂, MIL101 Cr and MIL101 Cr(Pt) shows that these MOFs undergo photodecarboxylation of benzenedicarboxylate (BDC) linker in a significant percentage depending on the structure and composition of the material. Routine characterization techniques such as XRD, UV/Vis spectroscopy and TGA fail to detect changes in the material, although porosity and surface area change upon irradiation of powders. In contrast to BCD‐containing MOFs, zeolitic imidazolate ZIF‐8 does not evolve CO₂ or any other gas upon irradiation.     

Ultra‐Fast Degradation of Chemical Warfare Agents Using MOF–Nanofiber Kebabs

The threat associated with chemical warfare agents (CWAs) motivates the development of new materials to provide enhanced protection with a reduced burden. Metal–organic frame‐works (MOFs) have recently been shown as highly effective catalysts for detoxifying CWAs, but challenges still remain for integrating MOFs into functional filter media and/or protective garments. Herein, we report a series of MOF–nanofiber kebab structures for fast degradation of CWAs. We found TiO₂ coatings deposited via atomic layer deposition (ALD) onto polyamide‐6 nanofibers enable the formation of conformal Zr‐based MOF thin films including UiO‐66, UiO‐66‐NH₂, and UiO‐67. Cross‐sectional TEM images show that these MOF crystals nucleate and grow directly on and around the nanofibers, with strong attachment to the substrates. These MOF‐functionalized nanofibers exhibit excellent reactivity for detoxifying CWAs. The half‐lives of a CWA simulant compound and nerve agent soman (GD) are as short as 7.3 min and 2.3 min, respectively. These results therefore provide the earliest report of MOF–nanofiber textile composites capable of ultra‐fast degradation of CWAs.     

Post‐Synthetic Polymerization of UiO‐66‐NH2 Nanoparticles and Polyurethane Oligomer toward Stand‐Alone Membranes for Dye Removal and Separation

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are widely used as porous materials in the fields of adsorption and separation. However, their practical application is largely hindered by limitations to their processability. Herein, new UiO‐66‐Urea‐based flexible membranes with MOF loadings of 50 ( 1 ), 60 ( 2 ), and 70 wt % ( 3 ) were designed and prepared by post‐synthetic polymerization of UiO‐66‐NH₂ nanoparticles and a polyurethane oligomer under mild conditions. The adsorption behavior of membrane 3 towards four hydrophilic dyes, namely, eosin Y (EY), rhodamine B (RB), malachite green (MG), and methylene blue (MB), in aqueous solution was studied in detail. It exhibits strong adsorption of EY and RB but weak adsorption of MG and MB in aqueous solution. Owing to the selective adsorption of these hydrophilic dyes, membrane 3 can remove EY and RB from aqueous solution and completely separate EY/MB, RB/MG, and RB/MB mixtures in aqueous solution. In addition, the membrane is uniformly textured, easily handled, and can be reused for dye adsorption and separation.     

Cooperative Multifunctional Catalysts for Nitrone Synthesis: Platinum Nanoclusters in Amine‐Functionalized Metal–Organic Frameworks

Nitrones are key intermediates in organic synthesis and the pharmaceutical industry. The heterogeneous synthesis of nitrones with multifunctional catalysts is extremely attractive but rarely explored. Herein, we report ultrasmall platinum nanoclusters (PtNCs) encapsulated in amine‐functionalized Zr metal–organic framework (MOF), UiO‐66‐NH₂ (Pt@UiO‐66‐NH₂) as a multifunctional catalyst in the one‐pot tandem synthesis of nitrones. By virtue of the cooperative interplay among the selective hydrogenation activity provided by the ultrasmall PtNCs and Lewis acidity/basicity/nanoconfinement endowed by UiO‐66‐NH₂, Pt@UiO‐66‐NH₂ exhibits remarkable activity and selectivity, in comparison to Pt/carbon, Pt@UiO‐66, and Pd@UiO‐66‐NH₂. Pt@UiO‐66‐NH₂ also outperforms Pt nanoparticles supported on the external surface of the same MOF (Pt/UiO‐66‐NH₂). To our knowledge, this work demonstrates the first examples of one‐pot synthesis of nitrones using recyclable multifunctional heterogeneous catalysts.     

Presence versus Proximity: The Role of Pendant Amines in the Catalytic Hydrolysis of a Nerve Agent Simulant

Amino‐functionalized zirconium‐based metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) have shown unprecedented catalytic activity compared to non‐functionalized analogues for hydrolysis of organophosphonate‐based toxic chemicals. Importantly, the effect of the amino group on the catalytic activity is significantly higher in the case of UiO‐66‐NH₂, where the amino groups reside near the node, compared to UiO‐67‐m‐NH₂, where they are directed away from the node. Herein, we show that the proximity of the amino group is crucial for fast catalytic activity towards hydrolysis of organophosphonate‐based nerve agents. The generality of the observed amine‐proximity‐dictated catalytic activity has been tested on two different MOF systems which have different topology. DFT calculations reveal that amino groups on all the MOFs studied are not acting as Brønsted bases; instead they control the microsolvation environment at the Zr₆‐node active site and therefore increase the overall catalytic rates.     

Zr-Based MOFs with High Drug Loading for Adsorption Removal of Anti-Cancer Drugs: A Potential Drug Storage

A robust and highly water stable series of UiO-66-drived MOFs including UiO-66-NH₂, glycidyl methacrylate functionalized UiO-66-NH₂ (UiO-66-GMA) and ethylenediamine functionalized UiO-66-NH₂ (UiO-66-EDA) were synthesized solvothermally and studied their adsorption performances toward two anti-cancer drugs, methotrexate (MTX) and curcumin (CUR) in the case of overdose. It was found that functionalizing the surface of UiO-66-NH₂ nanoparticles with different functional groups remarkably changes the adsorption capacity and the ideal adsorption selectivity of MTX over CUR. Particularly, the UiO-66-EDA exhibited the highest adsorption capacities for both drugs, 540.78 and 423.85 mg/g for MTX and CUR, respectively, because of the strong interaction between drug molecules and adsorbent via hydrogen bonding due to the existence of different polar functional groups. The kinetics of drugs adsorption was investigated by three well-known kinetic models, which the output indicates that the adsorption of both drugs onto the synthesized MOFs follow the pseudo-second-order model. Moreover, it was found that the equilibrium adsorption results were well fitted with the Langmuir isotherm models, revealing that the adsorption of both drugs onto the synthesized MOFs is a monolayer adsorption process. Further investigation illustrated that the synthesized MOFs could be easily activated and reused after four successive adsorption–desorption cycles. The output of the present work is of main important for biomedical and environmental applications of MOFs as an outstanding adsorbent for adsorption removal of hazardous drugs from contaminated aqueous solutions.     

Enhancing CO2 Separation Ability of a Metal–Organic Framework by Post‐Synthetic Ligand Exchange with Flexible Aliphatic Carboxylates

A series of porous metal–organic frameworks having flexible carboxylic acid pendants in their pores (UiO‐66‐ADn: n=4, 6, 8, and 10, where n denotes the number of carbons in a pendant) has been synthesized by post‐synthetic ligand exchange of terephthalate in UiO‐66 with a series of alkanedioic acids (HO₂C(CH₂)_n?2CO₂H). NMR, IR, PXRD, TEM, and mass spectral data have suggested that a terephthalate linker in UiO‐66 was substituted by two alkanedioate moieties, resulting in free carboxyl pendants in the pores. When post‐synthetically modified UiO‐66 was partially digested by adjusting the amount of added HF/sample, NMR spectra indicated that the ratio of alkanedioic acid/terephthalic acid was increased with smaller amounts of acid, implying that the ligand substitution proceeded from the outer layer of the particles. Gas sorption studies indicated that the surface areas and the pore volumes of all UiO‐66‐ADns were decreased compared to those of UiO‐66, and that the CO₂ adsorption capacities of UiO‐66‐ADn (n=4, 8) were similar to that of UiO‐66. In the case of UiO‐66‐AD6, the CO₂ uptake capacity was 34 % higher at 298 K and 58 % higher at 323 K compared to those of UiO‐66. It was elucidated by thermodynamic calculations that the introduction of flexible carboxyl pendants of appropriate length has two effects: 1) it increases the interaction enthalpy between the host framework and CO₂ molecules, and 2) it mitigates the entropy loss upon CO₂ adsorption due to the formation of multiple configurations for the interactions between carboxyl groups and CO₂ molecules. The ideal adsorption solution theory (IAST) selectivity for CO₂ adsorption over that of CH₄ was enhanced for all of the UiO‐66‐ADns compared to that of UiO‐66 at 298 K. In particular, UiO‐66‐AD6 showed the most strongly enhanced CO₂ uptake capacity and significantly increased selectivity for CO₂ adsorption over that of CH₄ at ambient temperature, suggesting that it is a promising material for sequestering CO₂ from landfill gas.     

Boosting Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production of a Metal–Organic Framework Decorated with Platinum Nanoparticles: The Platinum Location Matters

Improving the efficiency of electron–hole separation and charge‐carrier utilization plays a central role in photocatalysis. Herein, Pt nanoparticles of ca. 3 nm are incorporated inside or supported on a representative metal–organic framework (MOF), UiO‐66‐NH₂, denoted as Pt@UiO‐66‐NH₂ and Pt/UiO‐66‐NH₂, respectively, for photocatalytic hydrogen production via water splitting. Compared with the pristine MOF, both Pt‐decorated MOF nanocomposites exhibit significantly improved yet distinctly different hydrogen‐production activities, highlighting that the photocatalytic efficiency strongly correlates with the Pt location relative to the MOF. The Pt@UiO‐66‐NH₂ greatly shortens the electron‐transport distance, which favors the electron–hole separation and thereby yields much higher efficiency than Pt/UiO‐66‐NH₂. The involved mechanism has been further unveiled by means of ultrafast transient absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy.     

The First Study on the Reactivity of Water Vapor in Metal–Organic Frameworks with Platinum Nanocrystals

We first studied the reactivity of H₂O vapor in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with Pt nanocrystals (NCs) through the water–gas shift (WGS) reaction. A water‐stable MOF, UiO‐66, serves as a highly effective support material for the WGS reaction compared with ZrO₂. The origin of the high catalytic performance was investigated using in situ IR spectroscopy. In addition, from a comparison of the catalytic activities of Pt on UiO‐66, where Pt NCs are located on the surface of UiO‐66 and Pt@UiO‐66, where Pt NCs are coated with UiO‐66, we found that the competitive effects of H₂O condensation and diffusion in the UiO‐66 play important roles in the catalytic activity of Pt NCs. A thinner UiO‐66 coating further enhanced the WGS reaction activity of Pt NCs by minimizing the negative effect of slow H₂O diffusion in UiO‐66.     

Nylon–MOF Composites through Postsynthetic Polymerization

Hybridization of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and polymers into composites yields materials that display the exceptional properties of MOFs with the robustness of polymers. However, the realization of MOF–polymer composites requires efficient dispersion and interactions of MOF particles with polymer matrices, which remains a significant challenge. Herein, we report a simple, scalable, bench‐top approach to covalently tethered nylon–MOF polymer composite materials through an interfacial polymerization technique. The copolymerization of a modified UiO‐66‐NH₂ MOF with a growing polyamide fiber (PA‐66) during an interfacial polymerization gave hybrid materials with up to around 29 weight percent MOF. The covalent hybrid material demonstrated nearly an order of magnitude higher catalytic activity for the breakdown of a chemical warfare simulant (dimethyl‐4‐nitrophenyl phosphate, DMNP) compared to MOFs that are non‐covalently, physically entrapped in nylon, thus highlighting the importance of MOF–polymer hybridization.     

Pore‐Surface Engineering by Decorating Metal‐Oxo Nodes with Phenylsilane to Give Versatile Super‐Hydrophobic Metal–Organic Frameworks (MOFs)

Hydrophobization of metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) is important to push forward their practical use and thus has attracted increasing interest. In contrast to the previous reports, which mainly focused on the modification of organic ligands in MOFs, herein, we reported a novel strategy to decorate the metal‐oxo nodes of MOFs with phenylsilane to afford super‐hydrophobic NH₂‐UiO‐66(Zr), which shows highly improved base resistance and holds great promise in versatile applications, such as organic/water separation, self‐cleaning, and liquid‐marble fabrication. This work demonstrates the first attempt at metal‐oxo node modification for super‐hydrophobic MOFs, advancing a new concept in the design of MOFs with controlled wettability for practical applications.     

Rational Design of MOF/COF Hybrid Materials for Photocatalytic H2 Evolution in the Presence of Sacrificial Electron Donors

Crystalline and porous covalent organic frameworks (COFs) and metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) materials have attracted enormous attention in the field of photocatalytic H₂ evolution due to their long‐range order structures, large surface areas, outstanding visible light absorbance, and tunable band gaps. In this work, we successfully integrated two‐dimensional (2D) COF with stable MOF. By covalently anchoring NH₂‐UiO‐66 onto the surface of TpPa‐1‐COF, a new type of MOF/COF hybrid materials with high surface area, porous framework, and high crystallinity was synthesized. The resulting hierarchical porous hybrid materials show efficient photocatalytic H₂ evolution under visible light irradiation. Especially, NH₂‐UiO‐66/TpPa‐1‐COF (4:6) exhibits the maximum photocatalytic H₂ evolution rate of 23.41 mmol g^?1 h^?1 (with the TOF of 402.36 h^?1), which is approximately 20 times higher than that of the parent TpPa‐1‐COF and the best performance photocatalyst for H₂ evolution among various MOF‐ and COF‐based photocatalysts.