Directed Self‐Assembly of MOF‐Derived Nanoparticles toward Hierarchical Structures for Enhanced Catalytic Activity in CO Oxidation

Abstract

AbstractThe controllable self‐assembly of nanomaterials remains a great challenge in nanotechnological applications, especially for the hierarchical structure with high complexity. Herein, by taking the advantage of highly dispersed metal nodes and mild thermal stability of metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs), the self‐assembly of nanoparticles is directed from MOFs to construct CuO hierarchical structures, which have an inherited octahedral framework consisting of the microspheres, nanowires, and polyhedrons, respectively. Unlike the conventional self‐assembly in a solution media (such as solvent and molten solid), the assembly in this work is the first demonstration through a solution‐free approach. Moreover, compared to the general MOF‐derived CuO octahedron, the assembled hierarchical CuO structure exhibits much enhanced catalytic activity in CO oxidation thanks to the exposure of more active sites during the assembly.