Applied Surface Science 314 (2014) 663–669 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Applied Surface Science jou rn al h om ep age: www.elsevier.com/locate/apsusc Facile synthesis and characterization of trimesic acid-Cu based metal organic frameworks Nurettin Sahiner a,c,∗ , Kivanc Sel b,c , Omer Faruk Ozturk a , Sahin Demirci a , Gozde Terzi a a Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Department of Chemistry, Terzioglu Campus, 17100 Canakkale, Turkey b Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Department of Physics, Terzioglu Campus, 17100 Canakkale, Turkey c Nanoscience and Technology Research and Application Center (NANORAC), Terzioglu Campus, 17100 Canakkale, Turkey a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 13 February 2014 Received in revised form 6 July 2014 Accepted 6 July 2014 Available online 23 July 2014 Keywords: TMS-Cu metal-organic frameworks MOFs Porous materials Conductive MOFs a b s t r a c t Metal-organic frameworks based on trimesic acid (TMA) as organic linker and Cu (II) as metal ions from different metal salts such as CuCl 2 , Cu(NO 3 ) 2 , CuSO 4 and Cu(CH 3 COOH) 2 were prepared in relatively environmentally friendly media e.g., at room temperature in DI water and at the boiling point of ethanol. The prepared TMA-Cu MOFs showed very interesting porosity and optical coloring based on the source of the used metal salts and preparation medium. The prepared MOFs were characterized in terms of their porosity with BET measurements and it was found that about 850 m 2 /g for the MOF prepared from Cu(NO 3 ) 2 salt in ethanol. The amounts of metal ions connected to TMA were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy measurements (AAS) after dissolution of TMA-Cu MOFs by concentrated HCl treatments. From AAS measurements the mole ratio of Cu(II) to TMA was found to vary between 1.5 and 2, depending on the source of metal ions and the solvent used during preparation. The structural analysis and thermal characterization of the prepared MOFs were done by using FT-IR and TGA analysis, respec- tively. Additionally, TMA-Cu based MOF disks were prepared and their conductivities were determined by I–V measurements. The conductivity of TMA-Cu MOFs was calculated to be between 8.26E-08 and 5.29E-11 S/cm. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction From the beginning of this millennium, there is exponentially growing interest in preparation of MOFs and potential usage, with the attribution of great credit to Yaghi’s seminal works on both the- oretical and experimental designs, and application aspects [1–5]. To devise different geometrical MOFs, various parameters such as the size of the linkers and metal ions, their tendency to inter- act, medium conditions such as pH and solvent polarity have paramount significance [2–5]. The solvents that are most often used are polar, such as acetonitrile, DMF, alcohol and various types of water [6,7]. One of the most widely used linkers is 1,3,5-benezene tri carboxylic acid as organic linker for various metal ions to prepare an MOF structure with diverse pore sizes, pore volumes and other inherent characteristics [8–13]. The MOF are investigated for the ∗ Corresponding author at: Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Department of Chemistry, Terzioglu Campus, 17100 Canakkale, Turkey. Tel.: +90 2862180018x2041; fax: +90 2862181948. E-mail address: sahiner71@gmail.com (N. Sahiner). purposes of gas storage/adsorption and their separation and purifi- cation, catalysis and finally drug delivery and so on [14–18]. Due to the ready binding ability of functional groups such carboxylic acids, thiols, and amines with various metal ions, the organic linkers containing these functional groups are widely used as linkers in MOF preparation for tunable pore sizes for the applications of storage, adsorption and separation of gas mix- tures such as N 2 , H 2 , CH 4 , CO 2 , H 2 S and NH 3 etc., and catalysis [19–22,15,23,16,24–30]. The most extensive investigation theme of MOFs are their prospective use as H 2 storage systems [10–36]. The main principle in adsorption and storage of gases, including H 2 , are to develop design strategies to increase adsorption capa- bility at higher enthalpies and provide lower interaction between MOF components e.g., low interaction forces amid H 2 and the sur- face, and to predetermine their kinetic parameters. For example, MOF structures with higher porosity and the capability of ready dissociation from the adsorbed gas may be endowed by rational choice of metal ions and organic linkers offering tunable charac- teristics such as porosity, crystalline structure and the ability for post modification i.e., introduction of new and desired functional groups in/to the MOF structures. Various parameters for organic linkers such as the bond angle, the length of the ligands and their http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2014.07.023 0169-4332/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.