Imparting functionality into porphyrin metal–organic framework aerogels with uniform distributions for diversified applications

Abstract

The incorporation of various functional nanoentities into pure metal–organic framework (MOF) aerogels can not only introduce additional functionality but also expands the application scenarios of MOF aerogels. Herein, a general and simple strategy for uniform incorporation of various functional nanomaterials into a porphyrin MOF aerogel is presented. Specifically, this strategy primarily involves the introduction of a surfactant polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) to disperse the nanomaterials in lipophilic solvents, followed by a direct solvothermal reaction with the precursors of the porphyrin MOF aerogel. Additionally, uniform aerogel composites consisting of two MOF components have also been developed by careful optimizing the reaction conditions. The resulting nanoentity@MOF aerogel composites exhibit positive properties that stem from the synergistic effects between the nanoentities and MOF aerogel, offering advanced applications in areas such as photochemical electrochemistry, adsorption and photodegradation, electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction, and fluorescence.