Synthesis and characterization of a nanocomposite containing a copper-based MOF and nickel ferrite

Abstract

Recently, Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been developed rapidly as a new class of functional inorganic-organic hybrid materials. They are crystalline microporous materials which include metals at the center and organic ligands as linkers. These ligands create an open porous three-dimensional structures. MOFs have particular properties like, high pore volume and surface area, unsaturated metal sites textural properties and so on. With these properties we can use them in many applications including separation, photocatalysis, gas storage, adsorption, electrochemistry, fluorescence, sensing, etc. [1] HKUST-1, is a copper-based MOF characterized by a 3D system of square-shaped pore, that draws a great attention owning to it can be synthesized with commercially available reagents and has high surface area, accessible coordinatively unsaturated sites (CUS) and high chemical stability. On the other hand, the post-synthesis modifications (PSMs) of MOF have been demonstrated to be a crucial strategy for advanced functions. In particular, the incorporation of magnetic nanoparticles (especially nanocrystalline spinel ferrites with the common formula MFe2O4 (M = Ni, Zn, Mn, Co, Mg, etc.) into MOFs has been investigated because the product of nanocomposites can be transferred via an external magnetic field. This function is very significant in the adsorption of heavy metal ions or dyes or it can be utilized for drug delivery or magnetic resonance imaging. [2] Nickel ferrite powder, is one of the very important ferrite materials that has been considered for many applications such as high density magnetic storage media, MRI contrast agents, and so on. [3] In this research, a nanocomposite of HKUST-1/NiFe2O4 with core-shell structure was prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) methods.