A Facile Synthesis of HKUST-1 MOF through Reductive Electrosynthesis Method

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline materials that consist of metal ions bind to organic ligands as linkers by coordination covalent bonds. MOF properties, such as the presence of open metal sites, large surface area, high porosity, high thermal stability, tunable structure, and feasibility in modification are controlled and determined by metal cations, organic linkers, and applied synthetic method. Reductive electrosynthesis is a popular and interesting MOF synthetic method on the surface of conductive substrates. This method is based on electroreduction of oxoanions to generate hydroxide anions that lead to selective deposition of MOFs on conductive surfaces to form a thin MOFs film. The applied potentials during electrosynthesis affect the properties and applications of the produced MOFs. Here, Cu-based MOFs with the type of CuBTC (H 3 BTC: 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylic acid) known as HKUST-1 films were synthesized using different cathodic potentials and time, at room temperature, on the surface of brass. The reductive electrosynthesis was found to be fast and mild for preparing HKUST-1. This method allows direct surface modification which in turn affect the HKUST-1 applications as electrode material for electrochemical sensing such as glucose.