Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Adsorbents

Abstract

New materials usher new technologies. Synthesizing novel materials has long been cherished as a stepping stone in technological advancement. In our current area of research we tried to explore the concept of reticular chemistry in synthesizing ‘novel’ metal organic frameworks. It is however noteworthy to mention here that the term ‘novel’ signifies a new class of adsorbents which is popularly known as ‘metal organic frameworks’ or MOFs. Due to simplicity in synthesis and attractive physical properties, we picked Cr and Cu based MOFs. Cr-BDC (or, MIL-101) and Cu-BTC (or, HKUST-1) were synthesized hydrothermally in a Teflon lined stainless steel high pressure autoclave. The synthesized materials were thoroughly characterized using imaging techniques like optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The materials were undergone powder X-ray diffraction analysis to understand whether they are crystalline or amorphous in nature. Thermal stability of the synthesized products was closely examined in a thermogravimetry analyzer. These characterization techniques corroborated well with the published literature data and vindicated our synthesis methods.
Additionally, new variants or derivatives of the established MOFs were tried to be synthesized by changing either the organic ligands or the synthesis conditions. A perusal of our efforts is included in the results and discussions section.