Vapor-Phase Fabrication and Condensed-Phase Application of a MOF-Node-Supported Iron-Thiolate Photocatalyst for Nitrate Conversion to Ammonium

We describe a method for synthesizing a nitrate reduction catalyst within a metal–organic framework (MOF). The MOF NU-1000, a zirconium-based mesoporous material, is exposed by using atomic layer deposition (ALD) to a vaporous iron amidinate coordination complex and subsequently a dodecanethiol ligand to synthesize an iron thiolate cluster grafted on the zirconium oxide nodes. Structural identification of the cluster is conducted through X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and differential envelope density (DED) analyses. Once submerged in an aqueous solution containing nitrate (30 ppm of N) and irradiated with light, the MOF/iron thiolate cluster assembly can photochemically transform the nitrate to ammonium ions. We suggest that sequential, self-limiting, atomic (metal ion), and molecular (ligand) deposition onto the reactive nodes of chemically and thermally stable MOFs could prove to be a versatile and attractive method for obtaining nature-inspired chemical catalysts.