HIGHLY CATALYTICALLY ACTIVE PALLADIUM NANOPARTICLES INCORPORATED INSIDE METAL-ORGANIC FRAMEWORK PORES BY DOUBLE SOLVENTS METHOD

Highly monodispersed palladium (Pd) nanoparticles have been successfully incorporated inside the mesopores of a metal-organic framework (MOF), MIL-101, without deposition of Pd nanoparticles on the external surfaces of framework by using the double solvents method, in which cyclohexane is used as a hydrophobic solvent to disperse the mesoporous MOF and an aqueous solution of Pd precursor is used as a hydrophilic solvent to fill the mesopores. The resulting Pd@MIL-101 composite is highly catalytically active for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NPh) by sodium borohydride (NaBH4). The observed excellent catalytic performances are attributed to the small Pd nanoparticles within the pores of MIL-101.