Defect engineering of highly stable lanthanide metal–organic frameworks by particle modulation for coating catalysis

By virtue of their structural periodicity, tunability, high porosity and rich functionality, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are of great interest in catalysis. However, MOF crystals are fragile and difficult to use as robust adsorbents or catalysts without processing into shapes. Precise control of particle size and catalytic sites for MOFs during the shaping procedures is also highly desired yet hard to realize. A versatile size control method for lanthanide MOFs, especially our newly designed Ce-MOF (BIT-58), is developed. The coordination and steric effects of various modulators are investigated. With size reduction from micrometers to nanometers (∼25 μm to ∼30 nm), more accessible metal sites of BIT-58 are exposed (10 times increased acid site amount; 7 times higher mesopore volume) and the catalytic performance is significantly improved. Furthermore, nano-sized BIT-58 can be processed into films or coatings with excellent catalytic activity, which holds great potential in batch or continuous-flow catalytic processes.