Evaporation-Induced Reticular Growth of UiO-66_NH2 in Chitosan Films: Adsorption of Iodine

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) combined with polymers as hybrid materials offer numerous advantages such as enhanced performances through synergistic effects at their interface. The primary challenge in developing polymer/MOF hybrid matrix films is ensuring optimal dispersion and strong adhesion of crystalline MOFs to the polymer without aggregation, weak interaction, or phase separation. In this study, hierarchically porous UiO-66_NH2/chitosan (ZrCSx-f) films were designed by crystallizing UiO-66_NH2 within a chitosan (CS) skeleton. The resulting ZrCSx-f films displayed remarkable homogeneity with high loadings of UiO-66_NH2 crystals, up to 45 wt %, coupled to a high adsorption capacity of iodine in gas phase, up to 317 mg.g–1.