The Application Of Cu-BTC/ABS Composites Prepared Via Three Dimensional Printing

The development of reactors, adsorbents and composites with unique structures has drawn great attention recently. These unique structures have advantages of improving reactivity, enhancing heat and mass transfer, lowering pressure drops and being easier to scale-up. Structured reactors are normally combined with porous materials like catalysts or adsorbents. In this regard, micro and meso inorganic porous materials have both been extensively applied.Metal-organic frameworks(MOFs) are a new type of porous materials that are fabricated by linking metal ions or clusters and organic molecules(linkers) by strong bonds. MOFs have ordered structures, permanent porosity, high surface area and can contain many different functional groups which make them useful for a variety of applications such as gas separation and storage, catalysis, energy storage, sensors, pollutant removal and biomedicine. Cu-BTC(also known as MOF-199, HKUST-1, or Cu3BTC2), one of the members of MOFs, was recently applied for gas storage and separation, catalysis and removal of pollutants due to its large surface area, big pore volume, high Lewis acidity, good chemical stability, and ability of coordinated with water molecules.Three-dimensional(3D) printing was applied for the fabrication of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene(ABS) framework. Functionalization of the ABS framework was then performed by coating of porous Cu-BTC(BTC = benzene tricarboxylic acid) metal-organic frameworks on it using a step-by-step in-situ growth. The size of the Cu-BTC particles on ABS was ranged from 200 nm to 900 nm. The Cu-BTC/ABS framework can take up most of the space of the tubular reactor that makes the adsorption effective with no need of stirring. Methylene blue(MB) can be readily removed from aqueous solution by this Cu-BTC/ABS framework. The MB removal efficiency for solutions with concentrations of 10 and 5 mg/L was 93.3% and 98.3%, respectively, within 10 min. After MB adsorption, the Cu-BTC/ABS composite can easily be recovered without the need for centrifugation or filtration and the composite is reusable. In addition the ABS framework can be recovered for subsequent reuse. A significant advantage of 3D-printed frameworks is that different frameworks can be easily fabricated to meet the needs of different applications. This is a promising strategy to synthesize new frameworks using MOFs and polymers to develop materials for applications beyond adsorption.