Solid-state crystallization of metal organic frameworks within mesoporous materials methods and hybrid materials thereof

1. A method, comprising:

first, contacting an aqueous solution of an organic ligand salt of the formula A x (L −x ) with a mesoporous material (MPM) to form an impregnated mesoporous salt material of the formula A x (L −x )/MPM where A is a counter ion, each x is independently a whole number, and L is an organic ligand;

second, treating the impregnated mesoporous salt material with a nitrogen flow saturated with an aqueous acidic solution to form an impregnated mesoporous acid material of the formula H x (L −x )/MPM where H is hydrogen;

third, contacting an aqueous solution of a metal precursor of the formula M +y (B) y with the impregnated mesoporous acid material to form an impregnated mesoporous metal organic framework precursor of the formula [M +Y (B) y ][H x (L −x )]/MPM where M is a metal, each y is independently a whole number, and B is an anion;

finally, drying the impregnated mesoporous metal organic framework precursor by heating or under vacuum; and

at least one of 1) heating the impregnated mesoporous metal organic framework precursor in the absence of a solvent to a temperature between 120 and 300° C. or 2) exposing the impregnated mesoporous metal organic framework precursor to a volatile vapor in the absence of a solvent such that the heating or the exposing forms a hybrid material of the formula (M +y L −x )-MPM;

wherein the hybrid material comprises a nano-crystalline metal organic framework (MOF) embedded within the mesoporous material;

wherein the mesoporous material is at least one selected from the group consisting of a mesoporous metal oxide, a mesoporous silica, a mesoporous carbon, a mesoporous polymer, a mesoporous silicoalumina (zeolite), a mesoporous organosilica, and a mesoporous aluminophosphate;

wherein the organic ligand (L −x ) of the organic ligand salt is at least one selected from the group consisting of terephthalates, benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylates, 2,5-dioxibenzene dicarboxylates, biphenyl-4,4′-dicarboxylates, and derivatives thereof;

wherein the metal (M +y ) of the metal precursor is at least one transition metal selected from the group consisting of Mg, V, Cr, Mo, Zr, Hf, Mn, Fe, Co, Cu, Ni, Zn, Ru, Al, and Ga; and

wherein the hybrid material comprises mesopores with an average diameter in the range of 2-50 nm and micropores with an average diameter in the range of 0.5-5.0 nm.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nano-crystalline metal organic framework is present only within the mesopores or void spaces of the mesoporous material and homogeneously dispersed within the mesopores or void spaces of the mesoporous material.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising drying at least one selected from the group consisting of the impregnated mesoporous salt material, the impregnated mesoporous acid material, the impregnated mesoporous metal organic framework precursor, and the hybrid material at a temperature in the range of 25-160° C. under a vacuum.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

washing the hybrid material with distilled water; and

extracting water from the hybrid material in a Soxhlet system recycling methanol.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mesoporous metal oxide is aluminum oxide, cerium oxide, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, or magnesium oxide; or the mesoporous silica is SBA-15 or MCM 41.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the organic ligand (L −x ) of the organic ligand salt is at least one selected from the group consisting of, terephthalate, benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate, and derivatives thereof.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal (M +y ) of the metal precursor is at least one transition metal selected from the group consisting of Cr, Zr, Hf, Co, Ni, Zn, Ru, and Al.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal organic framework is at least one selected from the group consisting of MIL-101, MIL-100, MIL-53, MOF-74, UiO-66, UiO-67, ZIF-8, ZIFs, HKUST-1, M 2 (dobpdc), NU-1000, PCN-222, PCN-224, and derivatives thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid material has a weight percentage of the metal organic framework in the range of 5-50% relative to the total weight of the hybrid material.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid material comprises mesopores with an average diameter in the range of 6-40 nm and micropores with an average diameter in the range of 2.0-4.0 nm.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nano-crystalline metal organic framework has an average longest linear dimension of less than 40 nm.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid material has a surface area in the range of 200-1200 m 2 /g.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid material has a surface area in the range of 105-500% that of the surface area of the impregnated mesoporous salt material.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hybrid material has an average longest linear dimension of 100-500 μm.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal (M +y ) of the metal precursor is Cr.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal (M +y ) of the metal precursor is Cu.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal (M +y ) of the metal precursor is Fe.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the metal (M +y ) of the metal precursor is Mn.

19. A method, comprising:

first, contacting an aqueous solution of an organic ligand salt of the formula A x (L −x ) with a mesoporous material (MPM) to form an impregnated mesoporous salt material of the formula A x (L −x )/MPM where A is a counter ion, x is a whole number, and L is an organic ligand;

second, treating the impregnated mesoporous salt material with a nitrogen flow saturated with an aqueous acidic solution to form an impregnated mesoporous acid material of the formula H x (L −x )/MPM where H is hydrogen;

third, contacting an aqueous solution of a metal precursor of the formula M +y (B) y with the impregnated mesoporous acid material to form an impregnated mesoporous metal organic framework precursor of the formula [M +y (B) y ][H x (L −x )]/MPM where M is a metal, y is a whole number, and B is an anion; and

finally, at least one of 1) heating the impregnated mesoporous metal organic framework precursor in the presence of a catalytic amount of a solvent to a temperature between 120 and 300° C. or 2) exposing the impregnated mesoporous metal organic framework precursor to a volatile vapor in the presence of a catalytic amount of a solvent such that the heating or the exposing forms a hybrid material of the formula (M +y L −x )/MPM;

wherein the hybrid material comprises a nano-crystalline metal organic framework (MOF) embedded within the mesoporous material;

wherein the nano-crystalline metal organic framework is homogeneously dispersed and present only within the mesopores or void spaces of the mesoporous material; and

wherein the solvent is at least one selected from the group consisting of water, ethanol, methanol, tetrahydrofuran, and N,N-dimethylformamide and is present in a weight amount of less than 75% of the weight amount of the hybrid material formed.