SCOPE OF VARIOUS SOLVENTS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON SOLVOTHERMAL SYNTHESIS OF Ni-BTC

Ni-BTC (BTC = 1,3,5-benzene tricarboxylate) metal organic framework (MOF) was synthesized using different solvent conditions. Solvent mixtures of water/N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), water/ethanol, and water/ethanol/DMF were used for the reactions with or without a variety of bases at 160 oC for 48 hours. Even with same green crystals, prepared MOFs show all different BET surface areas and different XRD patterns. The highest BET surface area of the crystals was 850 m2/g obtained from water/DMF solvent with NH4OH as a base. The measured surface areas of the crystals follows the order of Ni-BTC(water/DMF-NH4OH) > Ni-BTC(water/DMF-TMA) > Ni-BTC(water/DMF) > Ni-BTC(water/DMF-Pyridine)> Ni-BTC(water/ethanol)> Ni-BTC(water/DMF-aniline)> Ni-BTC(water/DMF-NaOH).