Fabrication of a MOF/Aerogel Composite via a Mild and Green One-Pot Method

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with structural diversity and functionality have attracted incredible research interest, while their practical applications are hampered due to their intrinsic fragility and powder state. Herein, a MOF/aerogel composite has been successfully fabricated through a mild and green one-pot method to anchor ZIF-L nanosheets on the carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) aerogel to overcome these difficulties. The CMC aerogel not only acts as a template to improve the processability and applicability of ZIF-L, but also offers a highly three-dimensional porous structure to facilitate the substrate adsorption on the aerogel to form a microreactor, which is conducive to the full contact between substrate and catalyst. Benefiting from the advantages, the aerogel composite as a heterogeneous catalyst shows improved catalytic activity, good cycle performance and highly efficient catalyst recovery for the cycloaddition of epoxide and CO2. This mild and simple one-pot method opens up a new strategy for the synthesis of MOF and aerogel composite material, which is potentially beneficial for further practical applications. A mild, effective and green one-pot method has been proposed to fabricate a MOF/aerogel composite. In this process, MOF/aerogel composite not only maintains the characteristics of the original MOF, but also offers flexibility, stability and low density from aerogel. The obtained aerogel composite as a heterogeneous catalyst shows improved catalytic activity for the cycloaddition of epoxide and CO2.