Microwave Synthesis of a Nanoporous Hybrid Material, Chromium Trimesate

We have first shown that an organic-inorganic hybrid material, chromium trimesate, is synthesized efficiently within several hours and its physicochemical and textural properties are very similar to those synthesized by conventional hydrothermal heating. This work provides a good opportunity to expand the application of microwave technique to the synthesis of porous hybrid materials from syntheses of both organic and inorganic materials. Recently, the domain of nanoporous materials has been enlarged very much to the development of porous hybrid materials designated as metal-organic frameworks (MOF), porous coordination polymers or organic-inorganic hybrids which are the most recently highlighted class of materials consisting of metal ions linked together by organic bridging ligands in the framework. The attraction of combining properties from both inorganic and organic components has led to a quest of research toward new hybrid materials with potential applications including gas storage, catalysis, separation, and molecular recognition. Very recently, Ferey and co-workers have reported a novel hybrid material, chromium trimesate (designated as MIL-100), which has a hierarchical pore system (micro: 5-9 A; mesoporous: 25-30 A) with a very high Langmuir surface area