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Mild metal-organic-gel route for synthesis of stable sub-5-nm metal-organic framework nanocrystals

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Abstract

Nanoscale metal-organic frameworks (NMOFs) have attracted increased attention in recent years for miniaturized and/or biological applications. However, the synthesis of ultrasmall NMOFs with good stability is a great challenge. In this study, sub-5-nm nano-HKUST-1 was prepared for the first time via a mild metal-organic gel route without surfactants or capping agents. Controlling the gelation process via anion–ligand self-assembly is the key to the formation of NMOFs. The Tyndall effect, zeta potential, and liquid adsorption indicated strong stability of the obtained nano-HKUST-1, even in water. Adsorption experiments were performed using different dyes (crystal violet and methylene blue) to demonstrate the size-dependent adsorption thermodynamics and kinetics of this famous MOF. The results of this study provide new insights regarding the synthesis of NMOFs and their efficient applications.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 21571193), Open Funds of the state key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization (No. RERU2013012), Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2015A030312007) and National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (No. BX201600195).

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  1. Yue Qi and Chun-Ting He contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinorganic and Synthetic Chemistry, School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Yue Qi, Chun-Ting He, Juntao Lin, Shuping Lin, Jin Liu, Jinghong Huang, Wei Xue, Guicheng Yu, Hsiu-Yi Chao, Yexiang Tong & Zhengping Qiao

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  1. Yue Qi
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Correspondence to Zhengping Qiao.

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Qi, Y., He, CT., Lin, J. et al. Mild metal-organic-gel route for synthesis of stable sub-5-nm metal-organic framework nanocrystals. Nano Res. 10, 3621–3628 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-017-1539-x

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