Gas sorption and transition-metal cation separation with a thienothiophene based zirconium metal–organic framework

The modulated synthesis of the thienothiophene based zirconium metal–organic framework (MOF) material having formula [Zr6O4(OH)4(DMTDC)6]·4.8DMF·10H2O (1) (H2DMTDC=3,4-dimethylthieno[2,3-b]thiophene-2,5-dicarboxylic acid; DMF=N,N'-dimethylformamide) was carried out by heating a mixture of ZrCl4, H2DMTDC linker and benzoic acid (used as a modulator) with a molar ratio of 1:1:30 in DMF at 150 °C for 24 h. Systematic investigations have been performed in order to realize the effect of ZrCl4/benzoic acid molar ratio on the crystallinity of the material. The activation (i.e., the removal of the guest solvent molecules from the pores) of as-synthesized compound was achieved by stirring it with methanol and subsequently heating under vacuum. A combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), thermogravimetric (TG) and elemental analysis was used to examine the phase purity of the as-synthesized and thermally activated 1. The material displays high thermal stability up to 310 °C in an air atmosphere. As revealed from the XRD measurements, the compound retains its crystallinity when treated with water, acetic acid and 1 M HCl solutions. The N2 and CO2 sorption analyses suggest that the material possesses remarkably high microporosity (SBET=1236 m2 g−1; CO2 uptake=3.5 mmol g−1 at 1 bar and 0 °C). The compound also shows selective adsorption behavior for Cu2+ over Co2+ and Ni2+ ions.