Significant improvement of surface area and CO2 adsorption of Cu–BTC via solvent exchange activation

The surface area, pore volume and adsorption characteristics of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are significantly affected by preparation and activation procedures. In this work, we explore one such key synthesis parameter influencing the characteristic of Cu–BTC. We used a solvothermal method to synthesize copper based MOFs (Cu–BTC) using six different solvents (chloroform, dichloromethane, acetone, ethanol, methanol and water) in the activation process. The effects of different activation solvents on the thermal stability, porous structure and CO2 adsorption of Cu–BTC were investigated. Using methanol as an activation solvent will produce a highly crystalline and nearly solvent-free Cu–BTC, leading to the largest pore volume (0.823 cm3 g−1) and greatest CO2 adsorption (6.95 mmol g−1 at 25 °C and 132 kPa).