A thermo-responsive polymer-tethered and Pd NP loaded UiO-66 NMOF for biphasic CB dechlorination

Herein, we report a poly( N -isopropylacrylamide) sulfide (PNIPAM-S-) brush-tethered and Pd nanoparticle (NP) loaded UiO-66 type NMOF, namely Pd@UiO-66-S-PNIPAM , based on a NMOF-polymer covalent composite approach. The obtained multifunctional composite material can be a highly efficient Pickering emulsifier to stabilize the toluene-in-water emulsion; furthermore, it promotes the biphasic chlorobenzene (CB) dechlorination at the toluene-water interface in excellent yields at room temperature. More importantly, the Pd@UiO-66-S-PNIPAM emulsifier is thermo-responsive and can trigger emulsification at room temperature (25 °C) and demulsification at an elevated temperature (45 °C) of the toluene droplets, which makes product-catalyst in situ separation and recycling feasible. This temperature switchable Pickering emulsion catalytic system can be reused at least five times without any loss of its catalytic activity. As a thermo-responsive MOF-based emulsifier, Pd@UiO-66-S-PNIPAM can highly promote the biphasic chlorobenzene dechlorination at the toluene-water interface at room temperature.