Zinc/Cobalt-based metal-organic framework (Zn/Co-MOF)compositeassuperhydrophobic and superoleophilic materialfor potential oilwaterseparation application

Recently, porous crystalline materials consisting of organic ligands and metal ions, calledmetal-organic frameworks (MOFs), have been attended by a wide range of researchers andindustries. These nanostructures have attracted a lot of interest in a wide range of applications,due to their superior unique structural features including high porosity, tunable pore size, specificsurface area, and versatile performance[۱], [۲]. Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) are acategory of MOFs with the same structures as zeolites. They have been built upon ۴-connectednets of tetrahedral units, wherein metal ions, such as Zn۲+ or Co۲+, are linked through N atoms indiatopic imidazolate anions. In this study, the Zn/Co-MOF nanocomposite was synthesized andapplied to the polyurethane (PU) foam for potential oil-water separation application.Crystallineand structural characteristics of the synthesized nanocomposite were evaluated by X-raydiffraction (XRD)and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The obtained results showthat nanocomposite has been well synthesized. The morphology of the fabricated nanocompositewas studied by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). According to theobtained results, ZIF-۸ nanocrystals with an average particle size of about ۱۰۰ nm have wellcovered the surface of ZIF-۶۷ rods. The elemental composition of the synthesized product byEDS analysis exhibits the presence of Co, N, Zn, O, and C atoms, confirming the successfulsynthesis of Zn/Co-MOF nanocomposite. The MOF/PU foam exhibits superoleophilic andsuperhydrophobic properties. The water and oil contact angle were measured and found to be۱۱۹° and ۰°, respectively.Moreover, the MOF/PU foam showed the capacity to absorb oil ororganic solvents in about ۲۰ times its weight.

کلیدواژه ها:

Metal-organic frameworks ، superhydrophobic ، superoleophilic