Rapid Synthesis of Hierarchical Porous Metal–Organic Frameworks and the Simulation of Growth

Hierarchically porous metal–organic frameworks (HP-MOFs) have been successfully synthesized under mild conditions within 60 s using an anionic surfactant in a (Cu, Zn) hydroxyl double salt (HDS) solution. The anionic surfactant served as a template for the construction of mesopores and macropores, and the (Cu, Zn) HDS accelerated crystal nucleation. Importantly, the growth of the HP-MOFs was monitored by attenuated total-reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and the mechanism of synthesis was explored using mesodynamics (MesoDyn) simulations. The introduction of larger pores into conventional MOFs aided the diffusion of bulky molecules into the active center and enhanced the catalytic activity of the MOFs.