Less solvent solid state reaction method synthesis of zeolitic imidazolate frameworks and the adsorption properties of their derived carbon materials

In recent years, a variety of nanomaterial synthesis methods have been used to explore the preparation of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). The zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs), are typically synthesized through high cost and environmentally unfriendly solvothermal methods, require a large amount of organic solvents, and have extremely low yields. Therefore, exploring scalable and environmentally friendly synthesis routes for ZIFs is crucial. The metal oxide and 2-methylimidazole are completely converted into submicron size ZIFs in stoichiometric ratio via less solvent solid state reaction (LSR) method. The ZIFs synthesized by LSR method have good crystallinity, large specific surface area, and the use of tiny solvent amount can achieve a yield of nearly 100%, which solves the problems of low yield and serious waste of solvent in the synthesis of ZIFs by traditional methods. Additionally, the fabricated ZIFs derived materials through high-temperature pyrolysis have high specific surface area, nitrogen rich content, and excellent chemical stability, being favorable for promoting the adsorption of organic dyes. The adsorption capacity of ZIF-8 derived materials fabricated by the LSR method for organic dyes is significantly better than that of ZIF-67 and bimetallic ZIFs (BZIFs) derived materials. Compared with the traditional method, the LSR method is a green and scalable manner to synthesize submicron ZIFs materials, paving the way for the preparation of various ZIFs with different metal centers, and also providing a new strategy for the commercial production of ZIFs derived materials widely used in the environment protection.