3. Faster Synthesis of the Metal-Organic Frameworks NU-901 and NU-1000

  Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of highly porous, crystalline substances with many possible applications in areas such as gas separation, energy storage, catalysis, and sensing. In order to implement MOFs into such applications on an industrial scale, faster methods for their synthesis must be developed. In our research we focused on determining faster methods of synthesis for the MOFs NU-901 and NU-1000. NU-901 and NU-1000 were first synthesized over several days using the solvothermal method, during which the substrates were heated in solution for 24 hours, to ensure phase-pure samples could be obtained. Thin films of NU-901 were then successfully created using drop casting, a technique in which the solution is dropped via pipette onto substrates heated on a hot plate. This greatly reduced the length of the synthesis procedure from several days to several hours. So far, attempts to drop cast NU-1000 and synthesize thin films of NU-901 via solution shearing (which would further decrease the length of synthesis by using a mechanical blade to enhance evaporation) have been unsuccessful. Further research will continue exploring these options and we hope to have successful procedures for these techniques by the end of the semester. Reducing the time needed to produce these MOF thin films is an important step in successfully incorporating them into electrocatalysis, which in turn would be a substantial development towards creating renewable fuel cells.