Combustion synthesis of Cr2O3 octahedra with a chromium-containing metal–organic framework as a sacrificial template

High surface area mesoporous Cr2O3 nanostructures are synthesized using MIL-101(Cr) as a sacrificial template in a combustion synthesis with the octahedral shape of the MOF retained. This new synthetic approach avoids a template-removal step, can be carried out in a simple device, and is time and energy efficient for easy scale-up.