Facile Syntheses of Metal-organic Framework Cu3(BTC)2(H2O)3 under Ultrasound

Cu-BTC[Cu-3(BTC)(2)(H2O)(3), BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate], one of the most well-known metal-organic framework materials (MOF), has been synthesized under atmospheric pressure and room temperature by using ultrasound. The Cu-BTC can be obtained in 1 min in the presence of DMF (N,N-dimethylformamide), suggesting the possibility of continuous production of Cu-BTC. Moreover, the surface area and pore volume show that the concentration of DMF is important for the synthesis of Cu-BTC having high porosity. The morphology and phase also depend on the concentration of DMF : Cu-BTC cannot be obtained at room temperature in the absence of DMF and aggregated Cu-BTC (with low surface area) is produced in the presence of high concentration of DMF. It seems that the deprotonation of benzenetricarboxylic acid by base (such as DMF) is inevitable for the room temperature syntheses.