For students

Supervisor: dr hab. Rafael L. Oliveira

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Description:

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are highly porous materials composed of metal ions or clusters coordinated with organic ligands. They are known for their exceptional surface area and tunable porosity, making them useful for a variety of applications, including gas storage, separation, and drug delivery.

MOFs can be synthesized in various ways and can include a wide range of metal ions (like zinc, copper, or iron) and organic linkers (such as carboxylates or phosphonates). The unique combination of their structural properties allows researchers to design MOFs for specific tasks, tailoring their chemical and physical properties for optimal performance.

MOF has some limitations related to low stability, which limits their application in catalysis, especially when high pressure, temperature, and the presence of oxidizing or reducing agents are needed. Thus, some researchers suggest the carbonization of these structures, aiming for their use as a catalyst.

There are many ways to prepare carbon materials using MOFs as the precursor, such as direct carbonization, carbonization of MOF with co-precursor, and carbonization of MOF with acid wash. The goal of this project is to synthesize a group of carbonaceous materials where metal clusters or nanoparticles will be immobilized on these carbonaceous structures. Herein, earth-abundant metal oxides such as cobalt, iron, nickel, or copper. These materials will be characterized by many different techniques, such as microscopies (TEM and SEM), N₂ physisorption, XRD, XPS, and XAS. 

The prepared materials will be used as catalyst candidates for oxidation reactions (such as selective oxidation of alcohols and alkenes), hydrogenation reactions (CO₂ or biomass compounds), and hydrogen transfer reactions.