Mechanochemical synthesis of an ethylene sieve UTSA-280

Abstract

Mechanochemical synthesis is recognized as a general synthetic technique that is an alternative to conventional solvent-intensive methods. The mechanochemical synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) adsorbents of great industrial potential like UTSA-280 is of great interest and significance. In this work, UTSA-280 was synthesized from the easily accessible calcium oxide (CaO) or calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) and raw squaric acid (SA) through mechanochemical synthesis at room temperature. This environment-friendly method has been validated by experiments of powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope and gas sorption.