A new microporous MOF material based on Zn(II)-polycarboxylate coordination polymer synthesized with the aid of 1,6-diaminohexane as template

A new microporous metal-organic framework (MOF) material ZBTEC-1 has been synthesized by designing infinite coordination polymer network formed between Zn(II) and 1,2,4,5-benzenetetracarboxylic acid (BTEC) under solvothermal conditions in the presence of 1,6-diaminohexane (DAH) as a single molecule template. Powder XRD data demonstrate that the ZBTEC-1 material has a new MOF structure. N2 sorption studies indicated moderately good surface area (306 m2 g−1) with large size micropores (average pore diameter ca. 0.7 nm) and very high pore volume (1.93 ccg−1). 13C solid state MAS-NMR, FT-IR and UV–visible spectroscopic studies showed the presence of BTEC moieties in the framework. TEM and FE-SEM analysis indicated 30–60 nm diameter size microporous spherical particles for the ZBTEC-1 crystallites. This novel MOF material showed good hydrogen adsorption capacity at 77 K, indicating its potential application in hydrogen storage.