Scaling-Up Microwave-Assisted Synthesis of Highly Defective Pd@UiO-66-NH Catalysts for Selective Olefin Hydrogenation under Ambient Conditions.

The need to develop green and cost-effective industrial catalytic processes has led to growing interest in preparing more robust, efficient, and selective heterogeneous catalysts at a large scale. In this regard, microwave-assisted synthesis is a fast method for fabricating heterogeneous catalysts (including metal oxides, zeolites, metal-organic frameworks, and supported metal nanoparticles) with enhanced catalytic properties, enabling synthesis scale-up. Herein, the synthesis of nanosized UiO-66-NH was optimized via a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method to obtain defective matrices essential for the stabilization of metal nanoparticles, promoting catalytically active sites for hydrogenation reactions (760 kg·m·day space time yield, STY).

Modifying the Stöber Process: Is the Organic Solvent Indispensable?

The Stöber method is one of the most important and fundamental processes for the synthesis of inorganic (nano)materials but has the drawback of using a large amount of organic solvent. Herein, ethanol was used as an example to explore if the organic solvent in a typical Stöber method can be omitted. It was found that ethanol increases the particle size of the obtained silica spheres and aids the formation of uniform silica particles rather than forming a gel.

Enhanced Water Purification Performance of Ionic Liquid Impregnated Metal-Organic Framework: Dye Removal by [BMIM][PF]/MIL-53(Al) Composite.

We incorporated a water-stable ionic liquid (IL), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, [BMIM][PF], into a water-stable metal-organic framework (MOF), MIL-53(Al), to generate the [BMIM][PF]/MIL-53(Al) composite. This composite was examined for water purification by studying its capacity for methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) removal from aqueous solutions having either single dye or a mixture of both. Data illustrated that the removal efficiency and the maximum adsorption capacity of MIL-53(Al) were increased several times upon [BMIM][PF] incorporation.

Towards complete elucidation of structural factors controlling thermal stability of IL/MOF composites: effects of ligand functionalization on MOFs.

In this work, we incorporated an ionic liquid (IL), 1--butyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulfate ([BMIM][MeSO]) into two different metal organic frameworks (MOFs), UiO-66, and its amino-functionalized counterpart, NH-UiO-66, to investigate the effects of ligand-functionalization on the thermal stability limits of IL/MOF composites. The as-synthesized IL/MOF composites were characterized in detail by combining x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, x-ray fluorescence, infrared spectroscopies (FTIR), and their thermal stability limits were determined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Characterization data confirmed the successful incorporation of the IL into each MOF and indicated the presence of direct interactions between them.

Improving CO Separation Performance of MIL-53(Al) by Incorporating 1--Butyl-3-Methylimidazolium Methyl Sulfate.

1--Butyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulfate is incorporated into MIL-53(Al). Detailed characterization is done by X-ray fluorescence, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface area, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Results show that ionic liquid (IL) interacts directly with the framework, significantly modifying the electronic environment of MIL-53(Al).

MIL-53(Al) as a Versatile Platform for Ionic-Liquid/MOF Composites to Enhance CO Selectivity over CH and N.

Five different imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) were incorporated into a metal-organic framework (MOF), MIL-53(Al), to investigate the effect of IL incorporation on the CO separation performance of MIL-53(Al). CO , CH , and N adsorption isotherms of the IL/MIL-53(Al) composites and pristine MIL-53(Al) were measured to evaluate the effect of the ILs on the CO /CH and CO /N selectivities of the MOF. Of the composite materials that were tested, [BMIM][PF ]/MIL-53(Al) exhibited the largest increase in CO /CH selectivity, 2.