Crystal size effects on the nitrogen and methane adsorption ability of HKUST-1

Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline materials showing 1, 2 and 3 dimensional extended frameworks that are sustained by coordinative chemical bonds between organic ligands and metal cations. They have been widely studied in the last twenty years as a novel class of functional solid state materials to be applied in many different technological fields. Of particular interest is their use for the storage/separation of energetically and environmentally important gases such as H2, CH4 and CO2 Among all the characterized MOFs, HKUST-1 or [Cu3(BTC)2(H2O)3]n (H3BTC = benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid) is one of the most studied [1]. Its synthesis has been broadly investigated exploring different experimental conditions. The use of microwave and ultrasonic assisted heating, as well as, the addition of additives to the reaction mixtures have been used to tailor the size and morphology of the MOF particle size. Moreover, recently it has been noticed that HKUST-1 is also a good system for methane storage [2]. Here we report the methane adsorption properties of a series of HKUST-1 samples of different crystal size. These samples have been prepared in presence of additives or by varying the solvents or reaction conditions according to literature procedures. The effect of the crystal size in the adsorption kinetics and total adsorption capacity for HKUST-1 will be discussed. References [1] S. S.-Y. Chui, S. M.-F. Lo, J. P. H. Charmant, A. G. Orpen, I. D. Williams, Science, 283 (1999) 1148-1150. [2] J. A. Mason, M. Veenstra, J.R. Long, Chem. Sci. 5 (2014) 32-5; Y. Peng, V. Krungleviciute, I. Eryazici, J. T. Hupp, O. K. Farha, T. Yildirim, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 135 (2013) 11887−11894. Acknowledgment Authors acknowledge financial support from the MINECO (Concert project-NASEMS (PCIN-2013-057)) and Regione Lombardia (Concert project-NASEMS (Concert_EN-046)).