Shape- and size-dependent catalysis activities of iron-terephthalic acid metal-organic frameworks

Precise control of the size and morphology of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) presents an important direction for extending these inorganic-organic materials to many more advanced applications. However, because of the limit of the crystal-growth rule and mechanism, good-control of the size and morphology of MOFs remains challenging. In this contribution, an iron-terephthalic acid metal-organic framework with different shapes (octahedron, spindle and bipyramidal hexagonal) were easily and reproducibly synthesized via a solvothermal method. Sodium acetate and glycerol were used as modulators. Mechanism studies showed that the crystal nucleation rate and orientational growth both play important roles in determining the final shape of the MOFs. Further investigations showed that the as prepared MOFs exhibit shape-dependent catalytic activities, which mean that MOFs can be designed to perform different catalytic functions. This investigation not only provides an effective guideline for the precise control of the size and morphology of metal-organic frameworks, but also extends MOFs to much more advanced applications in terms of catalyst chemistry.