Metal Organic Frameworks(MOFs)

Dawley, Rebecca A.

Student Work

Metal Organic Frameworks(MOFs)

Public

UiO–66, a zirconium-based metal organic framework (MOF), was synthesized to investigate surface-level interactions. We are interested in expand- ing our understanding of MOFs and their ability to cap, trap, and store guest molecules within their porous 3-D structures, applicable for drug delivery. We hypothesize that fluorocarbon silanes will interact with UiO–66 terminal oxygen species to form strong covalent bonds. Synthesized by previously established solvothermal methods, UiO–66 crystals were incorporated in a series of experiments to investigate interfacial states and attachment strategies for capping and trapping. In vacuo heating and Ar+ sputtering experiments further supported the binding interaction between the silane and the UiO–66 itself. Analytical techniques including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and powder X-ray diffraction (pXRD) were used to evaluate the effectiveness of developed methods. We have demonstrated that silanes attached to a UiO–66 surface provides a method for establishing monolayer chemistry that is compatible with this specific MOF family.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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