A synthetic route to ultralight hierarchically micro/mesoporous Al(III)-carboxylate metal-organic aerogels
Developing a synthetic methodology for the fabrication of hierarchically porous metal-organic monoliths that feature high surface area, low density and tunable porosity is imperative for mass transfer applications, including bulky molecule capture, heterogeneous catalysis and drug delivery. Here we...
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Published in | Nature communications Vol. 4; no. 1; p. 1774 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
London
Nature Publishing Group UK
30.04.2013
Nature Publishing Group Nature Pub. Group |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Developing a synthetic methodology for the fabrication of hierarchically porous metal-organic monoliths that feature high surface area, low density and tunable porosity is imperative for mass transfer applications, including bulky molecule capture, heterogeneous catalysis and drug delivery. Here we report a versatile and facile synthetic route towards ultralight micro/mesoporous metal-organic aerogels based on the two-step gelation of metal-organic framework nanoparticles. Heating represents a key factor in the control of gelation versus crystallization of Al(III)-multicarboxylate systems. The porosity of the resulting metal-organic aerogels can be readily tuned, leading to the formation of well-ordered intraparticle micropores and aerogel-specific interparticle mesopores, thereby integrating the merits of both crystalline metal-organic frameworks and light aerogels. The hierarchical micro/mesoporosity of the Al-metal-organic aerogels is thoroughly evaluated by N
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sorption. The good accessibility of the micro/mesopores is verified by vapour/dye uptake, and their potential for utilization as effective fibre-coating absorbents is tested in solid-phase microextraction analyses.
Hierarchically porous metal-organic monoliths are potential materials for mass transfer applications. Here, the authors synthesize metal-organic aerogels via the gelation of metal-organic frameworks, and are able to tune their porosity exploiting the properties of both crystalline and aerogel materials. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 2041-1723 2041-1723 |
DOI: | 10.1038/ncomms2757 |